Sonic the Hedgehog: The Dash Adventure
by EchidnaPower
Summary: *I'm rewriting this* Eggman has put his greatest plan into action! And this time, Sonic and his friends will need help from another group of heroes, the Dash Crew! As they fight against Eggman's monster, relationships will be tested. Sonamy and others
1. The Battle Begins

**Hey guys! This story was actually the first story I ever wrote, and at the time I was really proud of it. But as I improved, I found the story to be rather mediocre, and so we're rewriting it, hopefully now it'll be a lot better than it was before. With any luck, the Dash Adventure will be a success this time around! Enjoy this first chapter! I own nothing except the story.  
_**

This story begins on the Death Egg, where Sonic and his friends were once again in a duel to the death. "Stay still you insipid rodent!" Dr. Eggman roared.

"Stay still? You must be kidding Egghead! I'm the fastest thing alive!" Sonic taunted, as he continued to dodge Eggman's laser blasts. "You tell him Sonic!" Amy cheered.

"Bah, this won't work. Perhaps it's time for you to meet my newest invention, Metal Sonic 4.0!"

Eggman pressed a button on his control panel, and the wall opened up, revealing yet another Metal Sonic robot. "Another me-bot Eggman? Looks exactly the same as the others! You must be losing your touch!" Sonic taunted.

Metal Sonic's eyes glowed red, and in the blink of an eye, it grabbed Sonic and held him tight. "Whoa! What gives?" Sonic yelled, obviously surprised by the speed of this newest reincarnation of himself.

"Hold on! Let me give that thing a scan!" Tails pulled out a portable scanner, and scanned both hedgehogs. "Oh my gosh…that robot is actually faster than Sonic!"

"No way! No one's faster than me!" Sonic reached behind him, grabbed the head of Metal Sonic, and judo threw him into the nearby wall, leaving the robot seemingly paralyzed. "Take that you pile of scrap!"

"No!" Eggman cried, "Very well Sonic, try this on for size!" Eggman pressed another button, and a strange fossil appeared and floated in mid-air. "You fighting us with rocks now Eggman?" Sonic snickered.

Eggman merely chortled evilly, as the fossil began glowing in a bright light. The group shielded their eyes from the blinding light, and when it dissipated, a weird eyeball-like creature appeared in front of the group. "What the heck is that?" Amy asked with disgust.

Tails scanned the creature, and was shocked by what he read. "That thing isn't even real! It's some sort of weird spirit!"

"You mean it's a…ghost?" Amy screamed fearfully. "I don't care what that thing is! I'll take it down!" Sonic charged ahead with a spin dash, but when he made contact, the thing merely disassembled and sent Sonic spin dashing right into the wall he had ironically smashed Metal Sonic into.

"Let me try! I've fought things like this before!" Knuckles charged ahead and started swinging away at the strange monster that merely took every swing like it was nothing. "I'm hitting this thing and it just keeps putting itself together!" Knuckles roared with sweat dripping from his muzzle.

Knuckles finally stopped punching when he ran out of strength, and the monster reassembled itself and fired a laser from its pupil. "Knuckles!" Tails and Amy cried.

"You see? All of your attacks are useless against Zero! His molecular structure allows him to simply ignore your attacks until you wear yourselves out!" Eggman chortled.

"I won't accept that!" Sonic got back up and leaped into the air, trying his Blue Tornado attack on the malevolent spirit. Zero's body disassembled and was swept up into the tornado, giving the group of heroes hope.

But just as simply as with the physical attacks, Zero reassembled himself and was left unaffected. "Geez! What's with this thing?" Sonic growled, beginning to lose his cool.

"Sonic, we can't win by just attacking! We've gotta think of a strategy!" Tails shouted. "I'm afraid you won't have the time to think of one! Go Zero!" Eggman ordered.

Zero slowly began floating towards Sonic, its emotionless stare bearing down on the speedy blue hedgehog. "Oh no ya don't! Tails, Amy, let's go with our best attack!" Sonic roared.

"You got it Sonic!" Amy immediately went into action, Piko Piko Hammer at the ready, and got into place for the Hail Storm attack. "Well come on Tails, get your tails in here!" Knuckles roared.

Tails hesitated, but eventually gave in to his friends' wishes and got in place for the attack. "Attack away heroes! Zero won't even feel it!" Eggman gloated.

Sonic ignored the heckling and attacked over and over as his friends took turns smashing him into the speechless monster. When the attack was completed, Sonic smiled at the totally disassembled mess they had left Zero in. "Let's see you recover from that!" Sonic panted.

But the entire group was left in shock when Zero once again reassembled his molecules. "I grow weary of watching this. Attack!" Eggman ordered.

The group braced themselves for Zero's next move, but they let their guard down when Zero didn't move. "Ha! Zero doesn't wanna obey you Eggman!" Amy laughed. "Or, Zero wasn't who he was talking to." Tails gasped in realization.

Metal Sonic appeared next to them and punched out both Tails and Knuckles in the blink of an eye, but Sonic reacted fast and blocked the renegade robot from attacking Amy too. "Keep your hands off her you robotic imposter." Sonic growled.

"It's just as well. Metal Sonic, take care of this won't you?" Eggman ordered calmly. Metal Sonic ignored Amy and grabbed Sonic and held him tightly in its metallic arms. "Hey, let go!" Sonic growled.

"Get your hands off of him!" Amy swung her hammer and smashed Metal Sonic's head, but the robot merely ignored the impact. "That's impossible!" Amy gasped.

Metal Sonic turned his head and fired two small lasers from his eyes, stunning Amy and knocking her on her behind. "Amy!" Sonic struggled to free himself from the robot's grip, but Metal Sonic was simply too strong to handle for the blue hedgehog.

"Knux, help me out!" Sonic yelled. Knuckles got up and charged, but yet another surprise was in store for the heroes. Metal Sonic closed his eyes, and within a moment, a red doppelganger of the robot appeared and attacked Knuckles.

"What the?" Knuckles got his fists up and started blocking punches and kicks from the red version of Metal Sonic. "What's going on here?" Amy asked in shock, still weak from the attack.

"Now you know why I call him Metal Sonic 4.0. He has a self-replicating system installed in his CPU, and he can create as many clones of himself as he may need!" Eggman chortled, "And now Zero, continue with the plan!"

Zero once again moved in, and Sonic desperately struggled to free himself. The molecular structure of Zero spread all over Sonic's body, sending chills down the blue hedgehog's spine. Then, slowly, Zero began to seemingly shrink down and vanish into thin air, and then Metal Sonic released him.

"Is that it? If that's torture, you're losing your touch Eggman." Sonic chuckled. But then, Sonic felt a sharp pain in his head, as if someone had grabbed a mace and bashed him head on. The pain began to grow worse, and Sonic fell to his knees as he held his head. "What's…happening…to me?" Sonic's eyes began to change color, and with one loud cry of anguish, Sonic fell unconscious.

"Sonic!" the group cried. "What do you do to him?" Amy demanded. Before Eggman could answer, Sonic stood up.

"Sonic, you're alright!" Amy ran up and glomped the blue hedgehog, but was confused, although not disappointed as to why Sonic had not backed off.

"Amy, back away slowly." Tails warned. "Why? What's wrong with me and my Sonic actually sharing a hug?" Amy demanded to know.

"I'm not Sonic…"

Amy's pupils shrank when she heard the devilish and deranged voice that emitted from Sonic's body.

She immediately released him, and Sonic's body stared her down with intensely glowing red eyes. "What are you?" Amy squeaked.

"I am…Zero 3!" the monster cackled. "And now heroes, quiver in fear as the second to last step is completed!" Eggman held up seven gems, and threw them down to the spirit-possessed Sonic.

"The Chaos Emeralds!" the group exclaimed. Zero 3 began glowing in a golden aura, as the powers of Super Sonic were activated by Zero 3.

"Yes! The plan is complete!" Eggman cackled.

But Eggman was not prepared for what he heard next. "Get…out of my head…you freaky whatever-you-are!" Zero had apparently not completely possessed Sonic, as Sonic was still fighting to regain control of his body.

"I can see that this will not go totally as planned. I'm afraid Zero and myself must depart, without you three." Eggman pressed a button on his console, and the room began to crumble apart.

"He's activated the Death Egg's self-destruct mechanism!" Tails exclaimed. "Now Zero, transport us out of here!" Eggman ordered.

"No way Eggman, you're going down with us!" Knuckles jumped up to turn Eggman's face into hamburger, but Metal Sonic deflected him, and then reabsorbed his doppelganger. Then in the blink of an eye, Zero 3 had warped away with Eggman and Metal Sonic.

"We've gotta get to the X-Tornado!" Tails exclaimed. Getting up from Metal Sonic's previous attack, Knuckles punched down the door, and they rushed to the shuttle bay where the X-Tornado was resting.

The Death Egg spewed more debris from everywhere, forcing the trio to run faster. "There she is!" Tails exclaimed.

They hopped into the ship and took off. Tails counted down the estimated time of the explosion. "Five-four-three-two-one!" When they looked back, the Death Egg was still in one piece. "Where's the big kaboom?" Knuckles asked.

"Eggman tricked us into chickening out!" Amy screamed. "But why would Eggman let us live I wonder?" Tails said thoughtfully. "Forget that Tails! Sonic's in trouble! We gotta help him!" Amy cried.

"Alright alright! We'll head to my workshop!" Tails piloted the X-Tornado back to Earth, and the trio prepared for what might be their most powerful opponent, but not because he was strong, because in a way, he was their friend. Their new enemy, was indirectly, Sonic the Hedgehog.  
_

**A/N: Well guys, whaddya think? The plot will thicken a little more as time goes on, but this seems like a decent beginning, what do you guys think? And if you're a fan of a couple and you're reading this, don't worry, it will begin to develop. But for now, Tails, Knux, and Amy have to deal with trying to save Sonic from himself! Keep an eye out for updates!**


	2. Trouble Brewing

**Ok, I realize that this story is not my AAML one, and maybe a lot of my readers don't care for Sonic (or prefer my Pokemon xD) But I'd really appreciate it if you'd give this story a chance. Now you'll meet two of the FCs of the Dash Adventure, which I promise you, WILL get better as time goes on. So anyways, here's Chap 2! ^^ I own nothing except the story.  
_**

Tails skillfully piloted the X-Tornado through the Earth's atmosphere, making sure to adjust for gravity and the temperature outside the plane's metallic hull. "Hang on tight guys!" Tails exclaimed.

Tails immediately swung the plane around and headed for the Mystic Ruins, where his lab was located. "Do you think Sonic will be ok, Tails?" Amy asked, desperate for a hopeful answer.

"I don't know Amy, I really don't. All I do know is that that…thing that went into Sonic has somehow taken over his very being, and we need to find a way to get it out of him." Tails said.

"But didn't Eggman say they'd need another plan because Sonic fought that ghost?" Amy asked. "Yeah…Amy I'd like to give you a real answer, I really would, but until I do some more research I can't guarantee anything." Tails replied.

Amy sat back and started fighting back tears, her beloved Sonic was in dire peril and there was nothing she could do to help him. If not even Tails had a plan, what could she possibly do? "We're coming in for a landing!" Tails exclaimed.

"Hey, what's that down there?" Knuckles pointed out. Tails and Amy looked down as well and saw a small figure in blue sitting in front of Tails' workshop. "Sonic?" Amy squealed hopefully.

But as they lowered a little more, they noticed that it was just Cream wearing a new outfit.  
"What's Cream doing here?" Amy wondered aloud. "Maybe she found out something's wrong somehow." Tails suggested.

Finally the X-Tornado landed, and the trio hopped out and walked towards the workshop where Cream was patiently waiting.

"Hi Tails, hi Amy, hi Mr. Knuckles!" Cream said, in her usual cheerful tone. "Hey Cream, where'd you get the awesome outfit?" Amy asked.  
"My mom bought it for me yesterday! She said it's really good for going on adventures!" Cream exclaimed.

"Well it does look really good on you Cream, but what are you doing here?" Amy asked.  
"Well actually I'm here for Tails." Cream said. "Oh you are huh?" Knuckles snickered. Tails rolled his eyes at the echidna warrior, who was making a big deal out of nothing.

"What do you need Cream?" Tails asked, turning back to the young rabbit.  
"Well, it's about Gemerl, I think there might be something wrong with him." Cream said, somewhat sadly.

"Really? What's wrong with him?" Tails asked.  
"Well, we were playing outside when Gemerl suddenly stood up and started looking around. And that's all he did, I don't know why though." Cream explained.

Tails' eyes grew wide. "When did this happen exactly?" he asked with concern.  
"Um, maybe ten minutes ago, as soon as I saw something was wrong I flew here to see if you could help fix him." Cream said.

Tails looked back at his two friends who had been quietly watching. "Gemerl's in defense mode, I programmed him so that the only time he gets like that is when he senses danger within a ten mile radius! We gotta get to Cream's house!"

The group gasped and hopped back into the X-Tornado, in hopes that they wouldn't be too late to get to Cream's house. "Oh wait, lemme get something!" Tails hopped out and ran into his workshop, and within seconds he emerged holding a strange machine.

Already expecting comments, Tails quickly spoke up. "I'll explain later, let's go!" Tails started the plane and they took off at full speed.

Meanwhile, two hedgehogs were walking through the forest, looking for something to liven up their lives. "Sheesh, what does a guy have to do to get some excitement around here?" the younger of the hedgehogs said.  
"Knock it off Crash, you've been complaining all day long, it's starting to – no check that, it passed annoying two hours ago." Dash, the elder of the two hedgehogs said.

"But I'm serious Dash." the cyan, goggle-wearing hedgehog said, "We haven't had anything to do in forever."

"Why don't you just practice your sword skills some more? You never know when something bad might happen after all." the black and blue hedgehog replied.

"Gimme a break about that. Why don't YOU just go back to chasing down Ashley again?" Crash snickered.

"Hey lay off about that! I told you, she has this huge crush on Shadow the Hedgehog. I keep telling her the chances of meeting him in person are almost literally a million to one, but she doesn't care." Dash grumbled.

As the two hedgehogs continued to walk through the forest, they heard an explosion in the far distance. "Did you hear that?" Dash asked, instinctively getting into battle ready stance. "Yeah…I did." Crash replied, "…FINALLY! Something to do!" Crash took off running, forcing Dash to follow the over-excited cyan hedgehog.

"Crash, you better cool off before you get your can kicked!"  
_

**A/N: Yeah yeah, it's short. But rest assured, once things get jumping, the story will start getting longer. So now you've met Dash and Crash. Two hedgehogs who are out looking for action, and did they ever get it! o_O Well at any rate, if you read this, please make sure to review, and hopefully we'll have a flash animation of this sometime soon. ^^**


	3. Split Personalities

** Well guys, here's Chapter 3, obviously not much has happened so far, but rest assured things will get hopping really soon.**  
_

As Tails pushed the X-Tornado to her limit, he had a million and one things racing through his mind, all jockeying for position in his brain as to what he would think of first.

_"I hope that my plan works!"_

_"What if it doesn't work?"_

_"Is Gemerl ok?"_

_"Will Cream be ok if Gemerl's NOT ok?"_

Even with all that racing through his mind, he still managed to find it inside himself to masterfully pilot his most valuable creation through the skies.  
"We're almost there gang!" the two-tailed fox exclaimed.

"I think we're there now! Look down there!" Knuckles exclaimed. The group looked down and saw Gemerl fighting off robots left and right, his Gizoid powers smashing through robot after robot as they came. "Those robots look familiar." Amy said thoughtfully.

As the X-Tornado flew in lower, they realized exactly why the robots looked familiar. "It's a bunch of those freaky Metal Sonic clones!" Knuckles roared. "Hurry Tails! Gemerl doesn't look like he can take much more!" Cream cried.

"Hang on guys! We're coming in for a landing!" Tails found a nearby clearing where he could land, running over a mob of red Metal Sonics in the process. In a matter of seconds they were swarmed by snarling robots, clawing viciously at the cockpit. "Tails, do something!" Cream whimpered.

"I'LL do something! I'm taking them down!" Knuckles growled. Knuckles hit the eject button on his seat, and the fiery echidna jumped off of his seat and punched down three Metal Sonics at once.

But he was quickly swarmed by dozens more, they were quite literally everywhere. "A little help here?" the echidna yelled. Tails was about to open the cockpit, when a bunch more Metal Sonics swarmed the ship. "We can't get anywhere as long as these robots are on top of us!" Amy exclaimed angrily.

Then if things weren't bad enough, the group saw both Knuckles and Gemerl taking a serious beating. The red Metal Sonics slashed mercilessly at the echidna's body, invoking grunts and groans of pain from the guardian's mouth.

And the revamped Gizoid was not any better off, even with his powers, the robot guardian could not hold off the sheer amount of numbers that were opposing him.

Crackling and struggling to stay upright, one last blow to the Gizoid's head knocked Gemerl out. "Oh no! Gemerl!" Cream cried for her friend.

Just when things seemed hopeless, two hedgehogs came from nowhere and started knocking robots around. "Who are they?" Amy asked. Within a matter of seconds, the robots around the cockpit mysteriously froze up, and fell to the ground.

"Everyone out now!" the black and blue hedgehog yelled. Tails took the opportunity and ejected the group from the swarmed plane, and the battle immediately got started again. The two strangers freed Knuckles and Gemerl, and then moved on to continue the attack.

"Crash! Heads up!" the black and blue hedgehog yelled. The cyan hedgehog quickly turned around and sliced the attacking red Metal Sonic with his signature plasma sword, and then charged ahead to slice up one that had caught his buddy off guard. "Just returning the favor Dash." Crash snickered.

Dash smirked and blasted away with his freezing ice powers, ultimately causing the robots to crumble into chunks of ice.

But then the battle started getting really heated as one enormous robot came out of nowhere with another army, and started knocking the group around. "Where are they all coming from?" Crash yelled.

"I don't know, but as long as they keep coming I'll keep punching!" Knuckles roared, as he took down two more. "Well what'll you do about him?" Dash yelled, referring to the huge one bearing down on them.

The enormous robot swept its arm, and knocked each and every one of the group, excluding Cream who was standing back to avoid danger, onto their backs. Of course in doing so, it destroyed the other Metal Sonics remaining. "That thing's not like the little ones! It's powered by something!" Tails exclaimed.

With the hazard of the regular robots eliminated, the group quickly got up and started dodging the attacks of the huge red Metal Sonic. "I can't even dent this thing!" Knuckles growled as he continued to punch the leg of the robot.

Even the powers and weapons of the two strangers were ineffective against the monster, Dash's ice powers couldn't cleanly freeze the metallic structure due to the sheer size, and the robot was apparently protected against Crash's Plasma Sword. "Shoot! I can't get through!" the cyan hedgehog exclaimed.

The robot slowly swung its arm again, and once again the group was knocked back. "Eggman's gotta be behind this somehow!" Amy exclaimed angrily.

"Dash, backup time?" Crash asked nervously. Dash nodded and turned on his wrist communicator, "Ashley, we need help! Come to these coordinates immediately!" However by the time Dash finished the communication, the giant robot had grabbed him and Crash in one hand, and the other three in the other.

"Oh no!" Cream cried from the clearing. But just as she said that, a blur zoomed past her, causing her to brace herself to prevent being blown away.

The group continued to attack even in their captured state, but the robot stayed firm. But just when things seemed hopeless, a blast of yellow energy came from nowhere and knocked the huge robot off balance. "Was that…?" Amy asked.

"I think so…" Tails replied. All of a sudden, the robot started shaking and sparking violently, its body was being assaulted from the inside out, and it wouldn't be long before it blew up.

"Hit the dirt!" Dash yelled. The group ducked and covered as the robot gave one last metallic shriek before it blew up, and a black blur emerged holding a shining jewel.

"Oh no way." Dash grumbled. "Thanks Shadow, we were really in a jam there." Tails said, extending a hand to Shadow. Shadow just crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Believe me, the only reason I was here was to save this." Shadow was holding a shining gem that seemed to emanate power.

"Is that a Chaos Emerald?" Amy asked. "Can't be, Zero has all the emeralds." Knuckles replied. "Indeed I do!" the group looked up and saw Zero 3 charging towards them at blinding speed.

Shadow managed to warp away in time, but the others were knocked back by the sonic boom created by the body Zero was encased in. "What's your problem Sonic?" Shadow asked in his usual uninterested tone.

"That's not Sonic, Shadow!" Tails warned. Shadow just raised an eyebrow at the young fox, but that would prove to be a mistake. "Chaos Control!" the monster vanished from sight, catching Shadow off guard. "Shadow, get out of there!" Knuckles roared.

It was too late. The moment Zero 3 came out of Chaos Control, Shadow was hit hard, and the black hedgehog relinquished the item in his possession. "Why thank you Shadow, I appreciate i – arrgh!" Zero 3 began cringing in pain once again, as Sonic was apparently still inside, fighting against the monster's will. "Enough's…enough! Stop…hurting my friends!"

That's when Tails made his move. "We don't have a lot of time! Knuckles, Shadow, hold Zero down while I reverse the polarity on my Gene Splicer!" Without hesitating, Knuckles and Shadow jumped into the air and brought the struggling Zero/Sonic down to earth.

"C'mon Crash!" Dash and his friend grabbed the golden being's arms, while Knuckles and Shadow grabbed his legs.

"On your what?" Amy asked. "It's a machine I designed to merge two objects into one! Theoretically, with reversed polarity, I could split Sonic's molecular structure from Zero's!" Tails explained.

"Theoretically? What happens to Sonic if it DOESN'T work?" Amy asked worriedly. "He…H-He may not survive the shock of being split since Zero has such a tight grip on him…it may not even work at all…but we'd have to kill Sonic otherwise! At least this way he has a chance!" Tails explained.

"Hey Tails, hurry up with that thing already!" Knuckles yelled, as he and the three hedgehogs struggled to keep the snarling monster at bay. The golden aura burned through their gloves, inflicting a searing pain on their hands.

"Alright, here goes nothing!" Tails fired, and the electric beam struck just after Zero 3 had managed to break free of the group's grip. With grunts and groans from both sides of the merged being, the crackling electricity practically blinded them with its sheer brightness.

"Sonic, please be ok." Amy begged quietly. "What's…happening to me?" Zero grunted. "We're being…split apart!" Sonic exclaimed, although painfully.

"Must…maintain…my form!" Zero strained. Zero fought with all his might to maintain control over Sonic's body, and for a moment it seemed that it would work. "Sonic!" the distressed voices of his friends strengthened Sonic's will to win, and with one last burst of strength, Sonic pushed away from Zero, and in a flash of blinding white light, Sonic fell to the ground.

"Sonic!" Tails, Amy, Cream, and Knuckles ran to tend to their friend, while Shadow, Dash, and Crash held back. "Is Mr. Sonic ok?" Cream asked with concern. Amy was the first one to check Sonic's condition. The young pink hedgehog reached for his wrist to check for a pulse. "It's weak!" she gasped despairingly.

"And what happened to Zero?" Tails asked. As if to answer their question, Eggman appeared. "What a pleasure it is to see you all here again." the evil scientist chortled. "Cut the friendly act Eggman! What did you do to Sonic?" Knuckles roared.

"I did not do anything actually; it was the fox boy's Gene Splicer that made him lose consciousness. For a moment it seemed that I would have to figure out a new plan, but now behold the monster that you've created." Eggman waved his hand and showed the group something they couldn't believe was true. "It…can't be." Amy gasped.

What they saw was Zero 3, still encased in Sonic's form. "I was wondering how I would prevent Sonic from further interfering with my plan, but thanks to you fox boy, I no longer have to worry. Sonic is clearly out of the picture now, so there's no one else who can stop me!"

"You mean…if I hadn't…" Tails was cut-off. "Indeed, Sonic was already extremely weak due to sharing a body with Zero, but now that he's been split apart from Zero's support, you may have sent him hurtling into an irreversible state of unconsciousness, meanwhile Zero has fully adapted to Sonic's form, and no longer requires Sonic's support."

"You…you butcher!" Knuckles charged for Eggman, but Zero acted almost instantaneously, and hit the guardian hard enough to put him into a crater. "Knuckles!" they cried.

Now Shadow had seen enough. "I'm afraid I can't let you do this doctor." the black hedgehog said determinedly. "Shadow, you're here too I see. You've come for this emerald I suppose?" Eggman replied, holding up a shining stone.

Shadow growled and vanished as he activated Chaos Control, but Zero 3 was once again prepared as he too activated the mysterious ability and vanished as well. "Quick! While Shadow fights off Zero, let's get out of here!" Dash exclaimed suddenly.

"Not so fast, we don't know why you wanna help us; in fact we don't even know you." Knuckles said suspiciously. "Knuckles don't be such a pain! They're giving us a chance to get Sonic to safety!" Amy slung Sonic over her powerful, hammer-toting arms and took off running as fast as her legs could carry her, with Tails and Cream not far behind.

"Wait, what about Gemerl?" Cream cried. Knuckles looked at the two hedgehogs and growled. "Alright, you REALLY wanna help? Grab that robot and follow us!" Knuckles charged ahead to act as escort for his friends, leaving Dash and Crash semi-by themselves.

"And who are you two supposed to be? Sonic's replacements?" Eggman chortled. "Just a couple of guys looking for something to do. Beating you and your friends should take care of that problem." Dash jeered.

"If you insist. Zero! Dispose of them!" Eggman ordered. Zero came out of Chaos Control holding Shadow tightly around the neck, with the black hedgehog struggling to break free of the Chaos Emerald powered being's death grip.

"Y-You'll regret messing with the ultimate life form!" Shadow croaked. Zero merely stayed silent and slammed Shadow onto the floor. The black hedgehog fought to continue the fight, but eventually ran out of strength and simply passed out.

"Good Zero. Let's take him with us so that I may add his DNA to yours." Eggman chortled evilly. Dash acted purely out of instinct when he grabbed Shadow and took off running with Crash trailing behind. "Bah, no matter. Come Zero; let us continue building on your power." Eggman chortled.

"This is Dash. Ashley, change of plans, I'll give you new coordinates upon arrival to our destination." Dash continued to run while toting the unconscious hedgehog over his shoulder.

"Hey Dash, you know what's funny? You're carrying the dude Ashley's got a crush on." Crash said while toting the badly damaged Gizoid.

Dash's eyes widened as he realized what Crash said. "And I just called her to meet him."  
_

**A/N: Well now Shadow's here, and the gang is almost totally together, but there are still a few characters yet to be introduced, if the story seems boring so far, don't worry, like I said, it WILL get better as time goes on. In the meantime, lemme know what you think! ^^ And for any of you Sonamy fans out there, don't worry, you'll get some fluff soon. **


	4. Fiery Sols

**Alright, Chapter 4 now, let's move right along and get right to it, the title isn't a typo, it's intentional, read and you'll get it. Enjoy!  
_**

The team headed to Tails' Workshop where they assumed they would be safe from enemy attack. Upon arrival, Tails hurried in and switched on his master computer and immediately started punching in data. "Come on, come on!" the fox boy mumbled desperately.

The computer beeped, and Tails immediately jumped from his chair, "Get Sonic hooked up to this and fast!" Tails exclaimed, holding up a wire.

Amy didn't question and placed Sonic down on the table while Tails hooked the unconscious hedgehog to wires. "Will he be ok Tails?" Amy asked worriedly. "I don't know…at least not yet." Tails replied.

Tails finished hooking Sonic up, and the computer started beeping with Sonic's vital signs, and they were relieved to see that Sonic wasn't dead, but he wasn't exactly in good health either. "He's alive!" Amy cheered.

"Yeah…except…I don't know how to get him back to consciousness." Tails said. "Why don't we just try splashing some water on his face?" Knuckles suggested. "Knuckles if it was that simple I would've done it already!" Tails replied.

"Isn't there anything you can do for Mr. Sonic, Tails?" Cream asked worriedly. "I don't know…l-let's not worry about that right now, come on, I'll see what I can do for Gemerl, ok?" Tails led the young rabbit over to the main workshop area, Crash followed to drop off the damaged Gizoid.

"What are you gonna do?" Crash asked. "Well first I have to assess the  
damage and see how extensive it is, then I'll be able to start the repairs." Tails replied.

"Put me down you idiot." Shadow growled. Dash had forgotten he was lugging Shadow over his shoulder, and the ultimate life form had apparently regained consciousness. Dash dropped Shadow like a hot potato and walked over to where Crash was.

"Now that we're out of danger, I think it's time we get introduced." Knuckles said, rather insistently. "The name's Dash, this here is my buddy Crash." Dash explained.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Dash and Mr. Crash." Cream said cheerfully. "Nice to meet you too kid." Crash replied.  
"That takes care of the who, now let's take care of the why." Knuckles said.

"Look, we're just two guys who wanna help out in any way we can, and that's all." Dash insisted. "Just drop it Knuckles, we should be grateful for whatever help we can get." Tails said, looking up from his repair work.

"Well now that that's settled, go ahead and call Ashley so we can get a little more muscle on our side." Crash said. Dash groaned and pressed a button on his wrist communicator, and the small watch-like object started giving off a signal. "There, happy?" Dash grumbled.

"Alright, we're wasting time here; explain to me what's going on already." Shadow said. "Well, simply put, Sonic was taken over by a monster and it took over and apparently cloned his body, which means Eggman has a crazed monster on his side AND the Chaos Emeralds." Tails explained.

"And he has those other emeralds that apparently generate almost the same amount of power as the Chaos Emeralds." Shadow said.  
"That emerald he was holding looked familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on it." Amy said. "I know! That was one of Blaze's emeralds!" Cream exclaimed suddenly.

"You mean the Sol Emeralds?" Tails asked. "Yeah! Mr. Shadow, did it feel warm?" Cream asked. "Warm is an understatement, its power felt like a sauna." Shadow replied in his usual cool manner.

"Good catch Cream!" Tails exclaimed. "Thanks Tails!" Cream replied cheerily. Just then, the door to Tails' workshop opened, and a young, violet hedgehog girl with bangs that covered her eye and a tight white top and red shorts walked in. "Alright Dash, what's going o – oh…my…gosh…"

Somewhere in the nearby forest, another battle was taking place. "Finish her Metal Sonic!" Eggman roared. "Not likely Doctor!" a fireball was launched at the blue robot, and it knocked it out and even made it crackle horrifically.

"Now hand over the Sol Emerald before I do the same to you!" Blaze the Cat formed another fireball and threatened the doctor with it. "I must say I wasn't counting on your arrival in this dimension." Eggman said.

"You transported the Sol Emeralds from my dimension and you didn't expect me to arrive? What kind of a fool do you take me for?" Blaze spat. "It was merely coincidence that your emeralds appeared in my dimension I assure you, however as long as they were I decided that I could use them to my advantage." Eggman chortled.

"You've clearly underestimated the power of my flames, if you refuse to return them willingly, I shall have to take them from you by force!" Blaze threatened. "I'm afraid that won't be possible my dear, Sonic would not appreciate having power taken from him." Eggman said.

"What do you mean Sonic? Sonic would never do something so selfish!" Blaze spat. "Are you quite sure of that? Say hello to my latest ally, Sonic the Hedgehog." Eggman chortled. Zero 3 appeared from the trees, and Blaze looked on in horror at what she was seeing.

"Sonic, it can't be!" Blaze gasped. "Surprised to see me?" Zero 3 snickered, knowing that his lie was convincing the fiery princess.  
"What happened to you? This isn't the Sonic I know, the doctor must've done something to you!" Blaze exclaimed.

"All the doctor has done is show me how awesome power can be, and if getting more means I have to steal the emeralds from your dimension, then I will." Zero 3 lied.

"I…I don't believe this." Blaze gasped in shock. "Believe it my dear, and now Sonic, destroy her!" Eggman ordered. "With pleasure." Zero 3 sneered. "Not on your life!" the fiery cat's flames burned intensely with anger and bitterness, she simply couldn't believe that Sonic would turn from everything he believed in so easily, but Blaze didn't realize that the golden hedgehog fighting her was not the real Sonic.

"Super Sonic Wind!" Zero 3 utilized one of Sonic's abilities and fired a wave of energized wind at the cat. Blaze jumped out of the way and charged towards the image of Super Sonic with a blazing kick. Zero 3 merely shielded himself and bounced the cat off. "That's pathetic." Zero 3 snickered.

Zero 3 punched Blaze with a mighty swing of his fist, and the cat princess fell to the ground, "I'm not through yet!" Blaze fired a barrage of fireballs at the monster, but Zero 3 merely dodged each one, moving faster than the speed of light.

Then the real carnage began, Zero 3 flew in and shoulder-charged Blaze, sending the fiery feline flying backwards, Zero 3 quickly caught up and started punching and kicking the cat from all angles. Blaze fell to the ground once more and forced herself to her feet. "You are quite persistent my dear, but I'm afraid that you're only prolonging your pain." Eggman chortled.

Zero 3 charged Sonic's Light Speed Attack, and when he activated it, Blaze took nearly 20 hits at once in a matter of seconds, finally the cat could barely remain conscious anymore, Super Sonic was merely too much for her to handle. "You…will pay for your treachery…Sonic the Hedgehog." Blaze croaked. "Now Sonic, finish her!" Eggman ordered.

Zero 3 charged a huge ball of energy that would ultimately obliterate the princess from existence, but just before Zero 3 fired, a furry figure leaped from the trees, grabbed Blaze by the waist and scurried into the nearby forest to hide. "What's happening here?" Eggman exclaimed in shock.

"Unhand me you…" the figure placed his gloved hand over Blaze's mouth, and waited until Eggman and Zero 3 left before releasing the enraged and pained feline. "Whew, that was close." The figure said, his bushy tail swinging back and forth.

"Who are you and why did you help me?" Blaze demanded to know. "They call me Houdini, Houdini the Sugar Glider, I helped because I'm a master at escaping, and I was raised to help those who needed help. Does that answer your question?" Houdini asked.

Blaze rubbed at her wounds and didn't respond to the Glider's explanation. "Here, lemme see." Houdini offered. Blaze jumped back and readied a fireball in case Houdini got any closer, after having who she thought was Sonic turn his back on everything he said he believed in, she wasn't in the mood to trust anyone.

"You're pretty messed up, we need to get you somewhere where you can recover." Houdini said. "WE will not do anything, MY mission is to get the Sol Emeralds back, and in order to that, Sonic the Hedgehog must be defeated."

Blaze turned and ran at full speed, her instincts told her that if Sonic had turned, his adopted little brother may have as well, so the logical thing to do was find Tails' Workshop and take the emeralds back. "I trusted you Sonic; I thought you cared; well now you'll feel the wrath of my flames!"  
_

**A/N: And there you have it, say hey to Blaze the Cat and MY personal FC, Houdini the Sugar Glider. If any of my AAML fans are reading this, you'll remember that Houdini was the pet that died a few months ago. Well I created this Sonic FC likeness of him, just as a tribute to the pet I had for ten years, well, that's all for now. **


	5. Don't Leave Me

**Alright. I see that the stupid glitch is STILL haunting all of us authors out there, and if you're an author trying to update your story, and you're reading this, read my Pokeshipping chapter "Hold the Phione" to find the loophole that allows me and other authors to update our story. At any rate, I promised that this story would get a little more exciting as we went along, and I'll make good on that promise. The plot will thicken a little bit in this next chapter, and then the excitement can REALLY get started. I wanna make a shout out to sth05, who I've sort of taken under my wing as he writes his own fanfic entitled "The Mystics", if anyone out there is reading this, why not give his fic a look too? Anyways, let's get going with Chapter 5! I own nothing except Houdini the Sugar Glider and the story.  
_**

"I can't believe that I'm actually face to face with THE Shadow the Hedgehog!" Ashley exclaimed excitedly. "I can't believe it either." Shadow grumbled. "Hey look, I didn't call you to meet Shadow; I called you because we have a situation." Dash said, getting the purple hedgehog's mind off her idol. "Fine, fill me in." Ashley sighed.

"Well for starters, Eggman's got a new plan and so far he's succeeded. He managed to take out Sonic by having his new monster possess him…and then Tails…although he wasn't aware he would, he helped the plan along by splitting the monster's DNA from Sonic's, leaving him in that state." Dash explained.

"To make matters worse, he's got all the Chaos Emeralds, which leaves us high and dry. And not only that, but Shadow over there found some other emeralds that apparently belongs to some other person, and Eggman will probably go for those next." Crash added. "How do you two always manage to get into trouble?" Ashley sighed. "Just lucky I guess." Crash snickered. "Well we're welcome to have the help, that's for sure. If Eggman has the Chaos Emeralds, we'll need to find our strength in numbers." Tails said as he finally switched Gemerl back on. The Gizoid powered up and looked around until it spotted Cream. "Gemerl! You're ok!" the small rabbit and her pet chao jumped into the metallic arms of their robotic bodyguard and hugged it happily.

"How you feeling Gemerl? Did I tighten everything?" Tails asked. Gemerl scanned itself and nodded, acknowledging the question. "Thanks so much Tails!" Cream hugged the fox boy gratefully, which left the boy blushing, as he hadn't felt anything like that from anyone for a long time. "No problem Cream." he replied rather sheepishly.

"Great, now that that crisis is over with, which one of these machines of yours will make us strong enough to take down that creepy egg and his monster?" Crash asked. "Uh, none, I don't even think a machine like that even exists, and even if it did I think it would a LOT more power than what a Chaos Emerald could produce." Tails replied. "Fine then, what about the uh…Master Emerald? Is that it?" Crash asked. "The Master Emerald! What if Eggman goes for that next?" Knuckles shouted angrily. "Did I just say something I shouldn't have?" Crash asked.

"You're good at doing that." Dash joked. "I'm serious! The Master Emerald is the most powerful artifact in existence, as it has the power to neutralize the Chaos Emeralds!" Knuckles replied hotly. "Well if you REALLY need to get there, we could always take a shortcut through the Negative Zone." Dash said. "The what?" the group asked. "I've entered that place while using Chaos Control. The Negative Zone is an alternative version of the Special Zone. Very similar as it transports you to different zones, but it also flips reality as communicating is virtually impossible." Shadow explained.

"Oh no, we're not going in there again!" Ashley exclaimed. "I say we do it! If the Master Emerald is in danger, I need to get there NOW!" Knuckles roared. "Amy…you haven't said anything this whole time, are you ok?" Cream asked. All eyes suddenly fell on the pink hedgehog, who was quietly staring at her hero and crush who was still struggling to stay alive. _"Oh Sonic…I wish there was something I could do to help…if only I knew what to do…"_ But suddenly, Sonic's vitals spiked, and the hedgehog's heart rate reached a dangerously high level, and his body started shaking, and his face scrunched in agony. "Tails! Tails come quick!" Amy cried. Tails and the others had already crowded around the blue hedgehog, who was apparently under some sort of internal turmoil.

_"Amy? Tails? Knuckles?"_ Sonic found himself in a pitch black area all by himself, not a sound could be heard except the sound of his breathing and the thumping of his heart inside his chest. "Gotta be one of Eggman's dumb tricks…wait a sec, I was with Zero! Where are the others?" Sonic took off running, trying to find a light in the darkness. Just then, he heard the sound of an all too familiar aircraft hovering in the distance. "Eggman." Sonic growled and pumped his legs harder and harder…300 MPH…500 MPH…800 MPH…finally Sonic hit the brakes and stopped in his tracks, listening intently for the sound he had previously heard. "This is crazy; I know I heard that stupid hovercraft." Sonic said to himself.

Sonic closed his eyes and tried extra hard to listen for the sound, when he suddenly heard the sound of…birds? "Huh? Now where am I?" Sonic saw that he was now standing in the middle of a grassy plain, and he saw Amy, Tails, Knuckles, and Cream all talking and enjoying themselves. Amy turned and waved at him, and Sonic waved back. He was about to join his friends in conversation, when suddenly the sky turned blood red, and even the air seemed thicker within a matter of moments. "What's…what gives?" Sonic wondered.

Just then, Eggman appeared in his hovercraft, cackling like a madman. "I knew I heard you! Let's party!" Sonic got into battle-ready stance, but was confused when Eggman didn't attack him. "Capture the weaklings!" he cackled. "The what?" Sonic turned around, and felt something stab at his heart when he saw his four friends severely injured and unconscious. "No!" Sonic ran to attend to them, but then he felt a new stab…a physical one. "What just…" Sonic slowly fell to his knees and clutched his midsection, and slowly looking behind him, he saw Zero standing proudly behind him, in the super powered body he had stolen. And then from behind him, an army of red Metal Sonics came and grabbed his friends, forcing them to stand and hitting their wounds, invoking screams of agony from them all.

"Sonic…you said…you'd never leave me." Amy whined quietly. "I won't…he won't win." Sonic tried to stand up and help, but Zero increased the hold he had on him, increasing the pain and pressure on Sonic's body. "No, I can't give up." Sonic struggled to get up, but the more Sonic resisted, the more Zero increased the pain, until Sonic couldn't even resist roaring in agony. "Ho ho ho ho, what a pitiful sight. The great Sonic the Hedgehog reduced to his knees!" Eggman chortled.

To make matters worse, Eggman pressed a button on his control panel, and the craft transformed into a powerful, vicious looking cannon. "Behold Sonic, my greatest creation, my Disintegrator Beam. Now say goodbye to your friends, forever!" Eggman had Zero lift Sonic up into the hovercraft, and then he called the robots off the barely living hostages who fell to the ground upon being let go. "Please help Sonic." Amy was barely whispering, but Sonic heard her plea crystal clear. "Now Zero, fire!" Zero moved to energize the beam, and the moment Zero let go, Sonic bolted and ran to try and save his friends.

But before he could get there, the black beam enveloped his friends, and the blue hedgehog was blasted backwards from the sheer power of the beam. Sonic desperately looked to where his friends were…and found nothing. "They're…gone…" Sonic growled and looked back at Eggman, his body shaking violently with anger and stress. "You…you butcher!" Although he wasn't aware, Sonic was unleashing his dark super form, which normally the egg-shaped doctor would panic about. But Eggman and his monster merely cackled maniacally, and they slowly vanished out of sight. "You murderer." Sonic grit his teeth and pounded the once again black ground, as if beating it would make him feel better about the fact that he had watched his best friends die horribly.

After a few moments however, a light started to shine in the darkness. Sonic looked up, his vision hazy from his tears, and saw a figure of pink walking towards him from the bright light. "Amy?" the figure knelt beside him, and gently held his hand. "You're ok Sonic, you'll make it."

"Ames, you're alive!" Sonic couldn't believe it. Then three more lights started to shine, adding to the already spreading light that was now quickly consuming the darkness, and Tails, Knuckles, and Cream all walked over to him as well. "Tails! Knux! Cream! You're all ok!" Sonic exclaimed with relief. "Come on Sonic, wake up." Tails said. "Wake up? What are you talking about? I am awake." Sonic replied. "C'mon Sonic, you gotta snap out of it!" Knuckles added. "Snap out of what?" Sonic asked. "Please Mr. Sonic, please be ok!" Cream whimpered. "I am ok Cream!" Sonic replied.

Then slowly, Sonic began to feel drowsy, and the figures in front of him began to fade away slowly, still pleading with him to be ok, whatever that meant. Finally only one figure remained, the pink one holding his hand, but even she was beginning to fade. "Amy, don't go! What did they mean?" he asked her desperately. Amy didn't reply, and simply placed a kiss on his forehead before fading away completely. Even in his exhausted state, the hedgehog couldn't help but blush, even though he couldn't really feel the kiss the pink hedgehog had just given him. Finally he couldn't resist the fatigue any longer, and fell asleep in the newly born light.

"Sonic, please! You can't leave me!" Amy cried desperately. After a few moments, Sonic's body calmed, and his vital signs went back to normal. "He seems ok now." Knuckles said. "But how do we wake him up?" Cream asked. Amy thought about it for a moment, and boldly moved to Sonic's forehead and kissed it, thinking that maybe it would work like it did in fairy tales. But even she was surprised when Sonic's hand started moving in hers.

"Guys quick, he's coming around! Let's give him a little space!" Tails exclaimed. The group backed off from the blue hedgehog, all except for Amy who was still holding on to Sonic's hand. Slowly, Sonic's eyes opened a slit, and then he blinked a few times. "Sonic, you're ok!" The pink hedgehog embraced Sonic, who was still too groggy to even realize that Amy was hugging him. "Oh man…my head feels like it weighs a ton." Sonic groaned. "Here Sonic, take this. It'll get you back on your feet." Tails held out a pill and a glass of water to the still lying down hedgehog.

Amy let go of Sonic and allowed him to sit up, when he suddenly realized that Amy had been hugging him. He stayed quiet since his friends didn't seem to be making a big deal out of that fact, but he couldn't but feel a little embarrassed about it. Sonic took the stimulant and swallowed it. "Thanks little bro, 'preciate it." Sonic said. "Are you sure you're ok Sonic?" Amy asked, grabbing his hand again. Sonic froze and saw from the corner of his eye that his friends were smiling a bit too widely at the fact that Amy was holding his hand.

As was his custom, he thought fast and pulled his hand away from her, "No worries Amy, I'm doin' alright now." he flashed her his trademark grin and quickly got up to walk to the other side of the room. "Hey, who are these guys?" Sonic asked, changing the subject. "Oh yeah! Sonic, meet Dash, Crash, and Ashley. They helped us get away from Eggman after I…accidently put you into a coma." Tails said guiltily. "A coma? Me? Man, what'd I miss?" Sonic asked.

"Well, when Zero possessed you, we tried to figure out a way to split you and Zero apart, and we did…but…I didn't realize that by doing so I was actually helping Eggman's plan." Tails explained. "Hey no worries, I'm back and I'm ready to kick some butt!" Sonic replied. "Shouldn't you take it easy for a while Sonic? After all, you just woke up from a coma." Amy suggested. "You kidding? I need to run!" Sonic replied. "I agree with Amy, Mr. Sonic. Mom would always make me rest a little while after I get better from being sick." Cream said.

"Tails?" Sonic asked. "I agree with the girls, take a few minutes and relax, you almost didn't make it. If Amy hadn't calmed your body down, you probably wouldn't be alive right now." Tails replied. This came as a shock to him. AMY was the reason he was alive? He looked around and saw his friends smiling again, and Amy blushing. "Oh, well, thanks Amy." Sonic mumbled, trying to fight off the embarrassment. Before Amy could even mutter a "you're welcome", the door to Tails' workshop burst open, revealing a very irate burning cat.

"You! You will pay for your treachery!" Blaze launched a fireball towards the hedgehog, who quickly jumped out of the way. "Blaze? What are you talking about? And what happened to you?" Sonic asked as he dodged another blast. "I'll show you what happened if you'd just stay still!" Blaze continued to fire, causing the group to scatter to avoid the blasts. "Blaze, please stop!" Cream cried. Blaze heard Cream cry out, and stopped to glance at her innocent young friend. "You're here too?" Blaze asked. "Please Blaze, what happened that you're so upset?" Cream asked.

"Sonic attacked me! He's tricking you all you know, he's sided with Eggman and he's trying to steal the Sol Emeralds, he must be stopped before it's too late!" Blaze charged another blast, but was stopped when Tails shouted. "Wait Blaze! You've got it all wrong!"

"What do you mean I have it all wrong? I wasn't imagining that a golden hedgehog attacked me!" Blaze hissed. Just then, another figure ran through the door. "There you are! Boy, you're one tough cat to track." the strange animal said. "Ugh, you again. Look, I don't need your help, and I don't want your help! Why can't you take a hint?" Blaze hissed. "Alright, who are you?" Knuckles asked. "People call me Houdini, I'm a Sugar Glider, and I saw that she was in trouble and I wanted to help her, but she seems to be a bit stubborn." Houdini replied.

"Please Blaze, let us explain what happened." Tails said. And so Tails explained to the two visitors the story of what had happened to them, and the more Tails explained, the more regretful she became. "And so Amy helped Sonic back to consciousness, and then you showed up." Tails concluded.

Blaze couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had badly misinterpreted the situation and was almost responsible for murdering one of her only friends in either dimension. And when she heard that Amy was the one who helped Sonic wake up from his coma, she couldn't explain this strange feeling bubbling up in her heart, but it didn't make her feel good. "Forgive me Sonic, I was mistaken." Blaze said sorrowfully. The cat knelt down; asking for forgiveness, but the blue hedgehog just smiled and helped her back to her feet. "No worries Blaze, I don't hold grudges." Sonic flashed her his trademark grin, which made Blaze feel strangely happy, and Amy feel the same feeling that Blaze had previously felt, except she knew what the feeling was: Jealousy.

"So what's the plan then?" Dash asked. "You guys still wanna help us out? It'll be dangerous." Sonic warned. "I know! I'm totally psyched!" Crash replied. "Guess I don't have a choice but to be ready to bail you two out of trouble." Ashley sighed, "Besides, it'll let me hang out with Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Oh joy." Shadow grumbled. "Well I say the first thing we do is go and protect the Master Emerald at all costs!" Knuckles roared. "That's what you always say." Sonic replied, "I say we find Blaze's emeralds first before Eggman finds them all, if he gets his hands on those too, Zero's gonna be almost impossible to beat."

"And I'll help too; I have to make sure that Blaze stays safe." Houdini said. "I do not need a bodyguard, but I believe I owe you an apology as well. Thank you for being concerned." Blaze replied. "Alright then, the first thing we gotta do is find the Negative Zone that Crash told us about, maybe the alternate reality will help us find the emeralds that are out of place in this world." Tails theorized. "Perfect! Alright everyone, let's go!" the group followed the speedy hedgehog out, and the race for the Sol Emeralds began.  
_

**A/N: Well like I said, now things will get a little more exciting as the group races to find the Sol Emeralds. But what strange things await our heroes in the strange reality of the Negative Zone? And what could possibly be forming between Sonic, Amy, and Blaze? Only time will tell. Make sure to leave a review! ^^**


	6. Divide and Conquer

**Ok, so I know I promised action in this chapter, and I know that this is a really short chapter...but I realized that there was no way I could write efficiently for so many characters in the same place, so I had to come up with a different idea. That idea turned into this chapter. For those of you who are reading this story, keep an eye out because I'm currently working with Xyno76 and we're planning on making an action packed sprite movie in Flash Animation. Let's face it, Sonic is easier to see than he is to read, especially if you're writing more action than romance. But there'll be a little smidge of Sonamy in this chapter here, so hopefully that'll temporarily satisfy the romance cravings out there. Well anyways, here's the chapter! I own nothing except Houdini the Sugar Glider and the story itself.  
_**

"Does anybody know which way we have to go?" Knuckles asked impatiently. "Well from what I remember, the Negative Zone is somewhere past Red Mountain or something." Crash replied. "No way! I've explored those mountains inside and out!" Knuckles roared. "Hey Knux, I know you're worried about the Master Emerald, but chill out already, they're just trying to help." Sonic said.

"You shut up! While I'm here searching for some stupid portal to some stupid world to look for some stupid emeralds, the Master Emerald is just waiting to be stolen by Eggman or that bat girl or who knows who else?" Knuckles roared angrily. "You take that back Guardian, the Sol Emeralds are just as powerful as your Chaos Emeralds!" Blaze hissed.

"Look, let's all just calm down and come up with a plan ok?" Amy said. "I agree with Amy, arguing isn't going to get us anywhere. The first thing we should do is decide how we're going to get around." Tails added. "I say we run!" Sonic exclaimed. "Get real Sonic, everyone here knows the only one with any chance to even keep up with you is Shadow." Amy said.

"Well hey, that's why I'm one of a kind." Sonic snickered. "I'll say." Amy giggled. Sonic quickly shut up and turned away, changing the subject, "Well if we can't run, why not take the Tornado 2?"

"Well we could, except there isn't enough room for everyone." Tails replied. "Well maybe I could try and keep up with Sonic and Shadow, while the others ride on the wings." Blaze suggested. "Hey don't worry about me, I'm pretty fast myself." Ashley pointed out. "Yeah so are we, but we're nowhere close to Sonic speed you know." Dash said.

"Then you and Crash will have to ride on the wing with Knuckles and Houdini." Tails said. "No! You know what? No! I'm not gonna stand around here while the Master Emerald is left unguarded!" the echidna took off running towards Angel Island. "Knuckles, come back!" Sonic shouted. "What's up with him?" Crash asked.

"Mr. Knuckles is very worried about his Master Emerald." Cream replied. "Yeah I know but…does he always take off like that?" Crash asked. "No, but he IS always obnoxious!" Amy screamed, trying to make sure Knuckles heard her. "Well I can understand his reasoning, as a fellow guardian I know how important it is to him." Blaze admitted.

"But what'll we do about Mr. Knuckles?" Cream asked worriedly. "I say someone should go after him, who knows? Maybe you'll find a few of the emeralds on your way there." Dash suggested. "Hey, that's what I was gonna say! Good, glad to see you're on top of things!" Sonic said approvingly. "I shall go with him; perhaps his emerald will allow me to sense the emeralds more efficiently." Blaze said. "If that's the case, then I know where I'm going." Houdini added. "Can I go with you Blaze?" Cream asked. "I suppose so, but you have to be careful." Blaze replied.

Before the team took off, Tails stopped them. "Wait! Cream, take Gemerl with you so you don't get hurt!" he exclaimed. "Oh yeah! Come on Gemerl, we're going on a scavenger hunt!" Blaze couldn't help but relinquish a small smile at Cream's innocence. She just wished that she could be as trusting as the small rabbit, but in her line of duty, she simply couldn't afford to be. "Good luck you guys, go give that knucklehead a punch in the gut for me will ya?" Sonic snickered. The team of four nodded and took off after the echidna guardian.

"As long as we're splitting up, I think it might be a good idea if we had two more teams doing different things." Tails said. "What's the plan boss?" Sonic joked. Tails chuckled at the playful jab, "I was thinking that one team could go and find the Negative Zone, while the other would go after Eggman and see if we can do a little damage, or if nothing else, we can get a little intel and see if Zero 3 has a weak point." Tails suggested.

"Is that really a good idea? I mean if Zero 3 is still in Sonic's Super form, it'll be really hard to do anything at all." Amy said. "That's why we need to go and see how much of Sonic's power Zero really has, if he's just like Sonic now, then he has to recharge his power just like Sonic does. And if we can catch him while he's recharging, that'll be our best shot!" Tails explained.

"So who's going where?" Crash asked. "Well since you guys are the only ones who know where the Negative Zone is, I think you four should go and find it while Sonic, Amy, and me go out to find Eggman." Tails suggested. "Fine by me, as long as these three don't get in my way." Shadow grunted. "Slow you down? Perish the thought!" Ashley replied. Shadow rolled his eyes and took off running without them, "He's such a dreamboat." Ashley sighed. Ashley took off running with Crash, while Dash silently growled to himself. "Something wrong Dash?" Sonic asked.

"Huh? No, I'm cool. Cool as ice, heh, get it?" Dash faked a smile and took off running; bitterness in his heart because of Ashley's swooning over Shadow. The black and blue ice wielder had always cared deeply for the young purple hedgehog, but ever since she had found about the ebony hedgehog they were following, she grew up idolizing him, which left her heart unavailable to anyone else, including him. His bitterness had not gone unnoticed however, as Amy Rose had seen how unhappy he was when Ashley got excited about going with Shadow. "Hey Sonic, should we have let them go with Shadow?" Amy asked. "I don't see why not, Shadow's on our side this time." Sonic shrugged.

"I know but…Dash looked kind of upset." Amy said. "Did he? I thought he just zoned out for a second." Sonic shrugged again. "Alright, I'll get the Tornado 2 ready, be right back." Tails ran into his garage to get his plane started up, leaving Sonic and Amy by themselves. "You know I'm glad you're ok Sonic." Amy said timidly. "Yeah, so am I." Sonic chuckled. "I…I'd hate to think what I'd do without you." Amy said softly. Sonic took a quick glance at the blushing girl and looked away, trying to think of what to say that wouldn't sound like he was too uncool. "Well I'm sure Shadow could always take care of you." Sonic said, once again trying to shrug her off. "Ew Shadow? No way! I'd really rather be saved by you." Amy leaned into Sonic and winked, which made Sonic shudder a little.

"So you ready to take down Eggman?" he said in a rushed tone. The hedgehog was desperately trying to get Amy's mind off of him, he knew he couldn't just take off this time; he had to stick around until Tails got the Tornado 2 out. The truth was he didn't mind Amy, but when she talked to him, it was hard for him to keep his guard up. For some reason Amy had this uncanny knack for knowing what was on his mind and making him get his guard down. There were times when she left him speechless, although he never admitted it to anyone because he didn't want to look vulnerable.

"If you're ready I'm ready." she winked again. Sonic chuckled shyly without looking in her direction, although he didn't notice that her expression was starting to grow a bit annoyed. _"Why isn't he even looking at me?" _Amy was about to speak again when Tails' garage opened up and the runway lowered for the Tornado 2 to take off. "All aboard!" Tails exclaimed. "Hey Tails, I thought the Tornado 2 was powered by a Chaos Emerald." Amy said. "Well it is, sort of. I did still have the old fake one I made, so I used that and added a little extra power from a regular engine. It doesn't have as much kick as it would with a regular Chaos Emerald, but it still moves faster than the regular Tornado." Tails explained.

"Who cares? Speed is speed! Let's get going!" Sonic jumped onto the wing, and watched as Amy tried to jump as well. "A little help?" she asked. Sonic grinned and grabbed the hedgehog's hand and yanked her up onto the wing with him. "Hang on tight, cause here we go!" Tails started the Tornado 2 up, and in a matter of moments the third team was on their way, hunting down Eggman and his monster.  
_

**A/N: Well now that the gang has split up, it'll be a little easier to write since I don't have to worry about including everyone at once. So what will come next? I dunno, guess I'll have to write it and find out. xD**


	7. The Dark Objective

**Well...this chapter will be a little edgier than anything I've ever written before, Sonic, AAML, doesn't matter. I feel I had to raise the rating of this story because of this chapter and the new direction I'm taking this story. For those of you who are offended by sexual references, don't worry because this is not that kind of story. The most I'll ever do is give subtle implications. Well, here we go...I don't own anything except the story and Houdini the Sugar Glider.  
_**

"Are we there yet?" Crash whined. "Not yet, but it's not much farther." Shadow replied, "Be forewarned, the Negative Zone is an extremely confusing and dangerous place. Your powers will be reversed and there may even be other side effects, we must get in and out as quickly as possible." 

"You know so much, where did you learn all this?" Ashley asked. "From personal experience." Shadow replied simply. The black hedgehog was obviously not at all interested in striking up a conversation with the purple girl, but despite of the way he was giving her the cold shoulder, she seemed undeterred in her determination to be close to him. 

"Hey, is this it?" Dash asked. The group stopped in the middle of a rocky area, with red colored mountains surrounding the terrain. "There's nothing but rocks out here!" Crash exclaimed. "Dude you must have short term memory loss. This is where we accidently got stuck in there!" Ashley replied. 

"Now…we have to activate the portal…get ready." Shadow began expelling energy in an attempt to activate the portal. "Look at him go!" Ashley swooned. Dash growled inwardly and jumped next to Shadow, using his own powers to assist the black hedgehog whether he wanted it or not. 

Finally the portal opened, and a swirling vortex of black and blue is what greeted them. "Is everyone ready?" Shadow asked. "Ready as we'll ever be." Dash replied. "Now remember, since the Negative Zone reverses everything, any trace of the emeralds we're looking for will most likely be cold, so if you feel a sudden chill, head that way." Shadow explained. 

"Fine, we get the picture, let's just go." Dash jumped in first, and disappeared into the swirling vortex. "What's his problem?" Ashley asked. "Who knows? Who cares? Let's get in there!" Crash dove in headfirst, and immediately vanished into the portal. "Anytime now." Shadow said.

Ashley was hesitating to go in, the only other time she had entered that zone was a practically traumatizing experience for her. "I-It's just that…my powers don't work very well in there…" she said softly.  
"I wasn't even aware you had any powers." Shadow turned to enter the zone when Ashley suddenly snapped. "You what? I'll have you know that this medallion around my neck isn't just for show!" the girl showed off her unique jewelry by waving it, "It was given to me by my father who used to be a king in a foreign country! And it gives me more power than you may realize!"

To prove it, Ashley's medallion glowed around her neck, and the girl fired a small ball of blue energy at the black hedgehog who merely bounced it off with a flick of his hand. "Now that you've proven me wrong, can we get this over with?" Shadow walked into the vortex, leaving Ashley to gape in awe, "He's so strong…wow." Ashley sighed and reluctantly stuck one foot into the vortex before allowing the rest of her to go in as well.  
Little did they know however, that a certain robot had become aware of the zone's location, and was on its way to report its findings. 

"Mr. Knuckles, please slow down!" Cream cried out as they chased after the echidna guardian. Upon hearing his name called, Knuckles stopped and turned around to see Blaze, Cream, Gemerl and Houdini trailing him. "I don't have time to listen to your teamwork junk! The Master Emerald needs to be protected at all costs!" Knuckles roared. 

"I understand where you're coming from, but if your emerald is in danger, wouldn't you prefer to have assistance?" Blaze replied. "Only if your assistance doesn't get in my way!" Knuckles turned and ran off once again, leaving the others to chase him. "Come on Cream, let's go after him!" Blaze exclaimed. "I just need a moment to catch my breath if you please." Cream panted. 

"I'm sorry, there's no time. Robot, carry her!" Blaze exclaimed. "His name is Gemerl, Blaze." Cream said as Gemerl scooped her up into his robotic limbs. "Very well, Gemerl. Let's move!" Blaze took off running. "She kinda forgot about me." Houdini sighed. "Don't be sad Mr. Houdini; Blaze is still learning how to make friends." Cream said comfortingly. "Don't call me 'Mr.' please, makes me feel older than I am." Houdini chuckled. 

"Oh ok, I'll try to remember that." Cream giggled. And so they took off as well, chasing the cat and echidna to Angel Island. Once they reached the plateau that led to Angel Island, they came across a rickety bridge. "Built that bridge myself a few weeks ago, what do you think?" Knuckles asked proudly.

The four sweat-dropped as they watched one of the planks fall down the canyon. "Doesn't look all that reliable to me." Houdini said honestly. 

"What do you mean it doesn't look reliable? I've gone across this thing a whole bunch of times and I'm still alive!" Knuckles growled. "And how many times is a bunch?" Houdini asked. "Like…two…" Knuckles grumbled. "You just glided over most of the time right?" Houdini asked knowingly. 

"Look, if you don't wanna cross over then don't! I have to get to the Master Emerald whether you wanna help or not!" Knuckles jumped up and began the long glide over the canyon to Angel Island. "Guess we have no choice. Gemerl, take Cream over first so the bridge doesn't weaken further before you get over, and go fast." Blaze instructed. 

The gizoid nodded and blasted across the rickety rope bridge. Naturally Knuckles was not on the other side waiting for them as he was already on his way to the Emerald Shrine. "Ok Blaze and Houdini! It's your turn!" Cream shouted. Blaze and Houdini both got on the bridge at the same time, but being the gentleman he was, he allowed Blaze to cross first. "Ladies first." he said chivalrously. Blaze nodded emotionlessly and ran across the bridge as quickly as possible with Houdini trailing not far behind. 

But then, Houdini smelled something. "Is something burning?" he looked at the ropes of the bridge and saw that it was beginning to ignite with flame. "Uh oh…Blaze! The bridge is on fire!" he exclaimed. Blaze stopped in her tracks and saw that Houdini was right. "Oh no, my flames must have sent out a spark while I was running!"

Blaze took off running again to try and reach the ledge before the rope burned up completely, but the cat couldn't make it before the rope snapped, and she began to plummet towards the jagged rocks far below.  
"Blaze!" Houdini dove downwards and got below the cat and let her fall on him, and then he extended his arms and legs and allowed the skin that connected them to catch the wind and decelerate their fall. The glider managed to reach the canyon wall before they fell all the way down, and landed on a small ledge and allowed the cat to get off so they could both catch their breath. "Are you ok?" he asked breathlessly. 

"Yes, thank you." Blaze replied. "Are you ok?" a voice called from above. "We're ok Cream; we'll be up there in a minute!" Blaze shouted back. "Shall we?" Houdini asked. "We shall." Blaze began the climb up the canyon walls, her gloved hands searching for handholds so she could pull her heeled boots up onto a foothold, with Houdini following along on the same holds. 

"Be careful!" Cream exclaimed, "Gemerl, when they get here, could you please help them up?" Gemerl beeped a few times to acknowledge. Blaze finally felt grass on her fingertips as she reached the top, and the gizoid immediately followed its orders and pulled Blaze up onto the ledge, whereas Houdini crawled up and then stretched out. "Wow, you're a really good climber Houdini!" Cream said. 

"I climbed trees all the time when I was a kid, guess I never lost my touch." Houdini chuckled. "Well let's hurry; I'm sure that Knuckles is almost at the shrine by now." Blaze said. The group ran off towards the shrine, where they would hopefully find the Master Emerald unharmed. 

"Any sign of him Tails?" Sonic asked. "Nothing yet." Tails replied. "What'll we do once we find them? Zero is in Sonic's super form right?" Amy asked. "Well if he can use the emeralds, so can I! I'll just go super and I'll take him down once and for all!" Sonic exclaimed. 

"It may not be that simple Sonic. Even if you manage to destroy the body that Zero's in, you may not actually destroy Zero himself, and we've already seen that Zero is immune to any attack we can use." Tails said. "Wait a minute, we only tried physical attacks right?" Amy said. 

"I tried my Blue Tornado and that didn't work either." Sonic replied. "Well yeah but that's not what I meant. What if we tried something like Shadow's Chaos Spear? Maybe an energy attack would do some damage." Amy suggested. "Interesting theory Amy, I'll do a little research on that." Tails replied. "Just keep your eyes on the skies for now little bro." Sonic chuckled. 

"Hey wait!" Tails exclaimed, "Got a reading!" the fox said. "Is it Eggman?" Sonic asked. "I dunno, but whatever it is it's really powerful." Tails replied. "Do you think it's Zero?" Amy asked. "Only one way to find out. Floor it Tails!" Sonic yelled. "You got it! Hold on!" Tails started descending towards a forest area, where the powerful reading was emanating from. "That reading is getting stronger!" 

"Keep on it Tails!" Sonic shouted. But just then, a golden object shot from the forest and knocked the plane off balance with a sharp blow to the wing. "What was that?" Sonic exclaimed. "Brace yourselves guys, we're going down!" Tails began steering the plane downwards with as much control as he could possibly obtain, but the best the fox could do was stabilize the plane from spinning before having a harsh landing. The trio was thrown from the plane and they hit the ground with a thud, and seconds later, Zero 3 was standing in front of them.

"Well look who it is." the body hijacker chortled, "I could've sworn you had just about had enough when you got put in that coma by that fox freak over there." 

"Looks who's talking about freaks, taking my body and then making a copy doesn't exactly strike me as normal!" Sonic countered. "Ahh but it is normal for my kind." the creature said. "Your kind? You mean there's more than one of you?" Amy asked worriedly. 

"There was a time, when my kind flourished…many years ago." Zero began his explanation, "Centuries ago, there were many creatures just like me, and we all had one common goal…to destroy opposing worlds! And so, we spread out into the galaxy, taking over worlds with our might, but then when we reached this world, we found that there were many challenges set before us. We had to battle our way through countless armies of your strange kind, but we prevailed each time…but then…we found this strange clan that called themselves Nocturnus…and it was a battle that should have gone down in history…" Zero paused a moment.  
"But then…a strange, god-like being struck us all down, and trapped my people in an unknown world…I alone escaped the fate my people faced…I decided that there was only one thing I could do…in order to recreate my race, I would have to find a way to preserve myself until the time came that I could once again emerge…and so…I decided to go into hibernation inside my shell, and await my time…and now that time has finally come!" Zero showed off his power to the trio, who had to shield their eyes from the light. 

"So that dumb old fossil of yours was just a shell?" Sonic asked. "Fossil…is that what you called it? Well no matter, I must now fulfill my duties." Zero 3 said. "And what duties are those?" Tails asked. "To destroy you of course, I'm sure Master Eggman will be very happy to see the blue hedgehog's head on his mantle!" Zero 3 charged towards Sonic in a blast of gold, and the blue hedgehog barely dodged it thanks to a face-plant. "Looks like this'll be fun!" Sonic jumped up with his Homing Attack and hit the golden hedgehog in the back. "If that's all you got, then this'll be over faster than I thought!" Sonic snickered cockily. 

"Oh don't worry, I'm just getting started." Zero vanished in the blink of an eye and then reappeared in front of Sonic and gave him a hard punch that sent him flying. After a few moments, Sonic recovered and bounced off a tree, ready to charge ahead and hit Zero with a quick roundhouse kick. But thanks to having Sonic's super form, the monster easily dodged the attack and began a barrage of attacks on the blue hedgehog who was helpless to do anything more than take it.

"Come on, let's help him!" Amy yanked out her hammer and charged forward to slam the golden hedgehog away.  
But the impact did nothing more than distract Zero 3 for a brief moment. Luckily that was all Sonic needed as he managed to give his super form a hard punch to the gut before falling on his knee. "Are you ok Sonic?" Amy asked worriedly.

"Yeah I'm fine, just be careful not to get nailed yourself." Sonic took off running after the golden hedgehog, but not before grabbing Tails by the wrist. "Let's go Tails, let's try Thundershoot!" Sonic tossed Tails up into the air and then grabbed his legs, allowing Tails to launch him towards his super powered enemy. When that failed to work, they tried using their Blue Bomber with Tails launching Sonic downwards.  
Zero 3 again merely bounced the attack off and nailed them both with blasts of yellow energy. The two hit the ground with a thud and quickly got up to face the monster again. "Come on Sonic, let me help you!" Amy cried desperately. "No way Amy, I don't want you getting hurt!" Sonic replied. 

"Wait…" Zero said, getting their attention, "The pink one, has a different body structure than you do." he said curiously. "Well duh, I'm a girl! Of course my body is different!" Amy replied angrily. "Girl…that means you must be the female of the species!" Zero exclaimed. 

"Sonic…I don't like the way he said that." Amy whimpered, quickly losing her fire when she saw the look in Zero's eyes. Sonic jumped in front of Amy and held his arms out protectively. "You keep your hands off her." Sonic warned. Zero 3 merely chuckled and slapped Sonic ok like he was nothing, smashing him against a tree.  
Then Amy pulled out her hammer nervously. "Y-You just stay away from me!" she whimpered.

Zero grabbed Amy's hammer and tossed it away, then he grabbed her by the wrist and let her hang, his eyes looking up and down her frame. "Yes, a fine specimen indeed…slightly underdeveloped…but I'm sure in a couple of years your reproductive glands and organs will be mature enough to begin the procreation process." Zero said sinisterly. Amy's eyes widened with horror. "Procre…not on your life!" Amy struggled to get free of the monster's grip, but Zero held her firm. 

"Sonic…he wants to use Amy as…breeding stock…to recreate his species!" Tails gasped. Sonic growled with fury, there was no way he could let Amy be used for such a disgusting purpose, and he would stop his semi-counterpart no matter how hard it got.  
_

**A/N: A little dark huh? Well...hopefully it won't get too much darker. And like I promised, you see a little bit of action and a bit of subtle romance between Sonic and Amy...if you didn't spot it, that means it was REALLY subtle lol. The next chapter we'll see more plot begin to unfold.**


	8. Mysterious Encounters

**Here's another update for the Dash Adventure. For those of you who are looking forward to my Pokemon updates, hopefully it'll be out by the end of this week. But my laptop's hard disc went kablooey so I've had to use alternative means to write anything, so I've been focusing on the Dash Adventure for two reasons: One, it's easier and quicker to write about since I already have the whole idea of the story. Two, I need to hurry and get this done for the sake of the flash movie we're making about this. Believe me, watching this story will be a lot more fun than reading it, so give it a chance! We're hoping to have a preview out very soon, so keep an eye out!  
_ **

"Any sign of Mr. Knuckles, Blaze?" Cream asked, as they headed towards the ancient emerald shrine. "We're almost at the shrine; we should be seeing a sign of him any moment now." Blaze replied. "Look over there! Is that it?" Houdini exclaimed.

"That's it! I remember since I was here before!" Cream exclaimed. Gemerl nodded to confirm, remembering the incident that had taken place there some time ago. "Heads up!" Houdini shouted suddenly. The group looked up and saw a figure of red hurtling towards them.

They dived out of the way and managed to avoid being hit by the projectile, but they were surprised to see that what they really had avoided was an irate red echidna. The guardian crawled out of the crater that had been made beneath him and growled, not even acknowledging the group's presence. "I get the feeling something's not right." Houdini said.

"Quickly! Let's go see!" Blaze exclaimed. The group of four ran after the echidna, who was once again facing off against a familiar looking robot. "It's that mean Mr. Sonic robot again!" Cream exclaimed. "And the doctor too I see." Blaze hissed. Knuckles got in a few punches against the robot, but Metal Sonic ultimately got the biggest hit and sent Knuckles flying backwards and onto his back once again.

"I won't ask again, tell me how to disable the force field around the emerald or I will have Metal Sonic obliterate you!" Eggman demanded. "I'll kill myself before I tell you!" Knuckles growled. "That can be arranged." Eggman nodded at the robot, who quickly charged like a rampaging bull at the echidna guardian, slamming him hard and fast with crushing blows.

Just as Knuckles got sent flying again, Blaze rushed in and hit the robot with a hard kick to its midsection, sending Metal Sonic hurtling backwards, but the robot quickly recovered and got back into battle-ready stance. "Well if it isn't the fiery cat girl. Shouldn't you be out chasing Sonic?" Eggman asked. "You lied Doctor; the creature you showed me was NOT Sonic." Blaze hissed.

"And what makes you so sure of that my dear?" Eggman asked. "Because I saw the real Sonic and he explained exactly what you've done." Blaze replied. "What? That irritating blue hedgehog is alive?" Eggman growled. "Alive and well. But I won't be able to say the same for you in a moment." Blaze hissed.

"Is that so? Allow me to prove you wrong. Metal Sonic, if you would." Eggman said. Metal Sonic began whirring loudly, and in a flash of bright light, an army of red clones stood before them. "And now my red friend, lower the force field or suffer the consequences!" Eggman growled.

Knuckles stood tall and glared at the evil scientist, "Go to the devil." he growled. "You've earned this knucklehead." Eggman snapped his fingers, and the army of robots charged towards them like a herd of wild wildebeest. "Let's take 'em down!" Knuckles was the first one to advance, and the enraged guardian barreled into a large amount of robots with a spiraling punch.

Blaze and Gemerl then joined in the battle as well. Blaze leaped into the air and started launching balls of fire at the robots, while the gizoid used all of its inherited programming and skill along with its robotic power to beat down the red duplicates. "Wow Gemerl, you're fighting just like Emerl did!" Cream exclaimed. Unfortunately Cream's outburst had caught the attention of a few robots, and they attacked the small rabbit and glider. "Uh oh!" Cream grabbed Houdini by the wrists and flew upwards to avoid the robots that were now clawing desperately at the two.

"Quick Cream! Throw me down there!" Houdini exclaimed. "Aren't you scared?" Cream asked. "Of course not, I'm too frightened to be scared! But my friends are in trouble, I can't just do nothing! Now throw me and put some oomph into it!" Houdini replied.

Cream hesitated, but eventually nodded and did a few swings before tossing Houdini down towards the sea of metal. After knocking into one robot with a hard kick to its head, Houdini started showing off the martial arts he practiced and trained on for years. Punches and kicks kept flying as the robots kept coming, but unfortunately for the glider they began coming in mobs now and his lack of physical strength was beginning to show. "When you cannot block, you must escape!" Houdini leaped up into the trees and scurried into the foliage, leaving the robots to wonder where he had gone.

Now with the element of surprise on his side, Houdini leaped out of the trees and knocked one out, then glided over to where Blaze was still punching out robots. Blaze spotted the fleeing glider and allowed him to get back to back with her so she could provide some protection. "Need some help?" she asked.

"My karate works better against flesh and blood, these robots don't have any nerve points I can take advantage of." Houdini said as he managed to block one punch and then shove the robot away. "Just stay close to me and do your best. Where's Cream?" Blaze asked. "Up in that tree, she'll be ok." Houdini replied.

"Very well then, we're almost through, so…" Blaze stopped when she heard a high pitched cry for help. "Blaze, Houdini, someone help!" the rabbit squealed. A red Metal Sonic was chasing the rabbit through the trees, and eventually got its hands on the small rabbit. "Cheese, get him!" Cream squeaked. Cheese flexed its arms and started punching the head of the robot, which ignored the impact and just flicked the small creature away. "Cheese no!" the robot held the terrified bunny up over its head and charged a laser blast. Cream closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at the pain, but then she heard something fly by them, and opened her eyes, she noticed that the robot's metallic torso had a huge gaping hole in it, and she looked over the robot's head and saw Blaze with her hand giving off smoke.

Blaze uncurled the robot's fist and freed the small rabbit who immediately jumped up and hugged the cat in thanks. "Wait, where's Cheese?" Cream asked. "Looking for someone?" Houdini scurried up the tree and held out his hand, revealing the cute little chao that had been knocked away by the robot. "Oh Cheese, you're ok!" Cream embraced the small creature, whose emotion indicator turned into a heart at receiving the affection.

"Well that's just about all of them, where's Knuckles?" Houdini asked. When the group felt the ground shake, they fell out of the tree and landed on their faces, with the exception of Blaze, who being a cat, simply landed on her feet. "I think we found Mr. Knuckles." Cream said.

Indeed, Knuckles was taking care of the last of the clones and had taken it upon himself to knock out the original blue version. "Hammer Punch!" Knuckles reeled back and swung hard, knocking the robot backwards and into Eggman's hovercraft. "Get up Metal Sonic! We must not leave empty handed!" Eggman growled. Metal Sonic slowly got back up, its cold, red eyes burning holes through the echidna's skin. "No lousy stare down is gonna stop me from turning you into scrap!" Knuckles roared, punching the air with determination.

But just then, Knuckles got run over by a stray red clone that was running desperately to get to its master. "My sentry! Have you found anything about Shadow's whereabouts?" the evil scientist asked. The robot nodded, and a small wire popped out of its head, allowing the original Metal Sonic to begin the data transfer, which was fed directly into Eggman's hovercraft computer via wireless communication.

"A strange world…tell me, where is this world located?" Eggman asked. The robot began the data transfer, but it was abruptly interrupted when a heeled boot sliced the transfer wire in half, not to mention the robot's head being blown off. "No!" Eggman growled. "I think you've learned enough." Blaze said. "I said I would not leave empty handed, and I've fulfilled that statement, Metal Sonic, time to leave this crummy island once and for all!" Eggman shouted.

"Good, because if I ever see you anywhere near the Master Emerald again, I'll fray your head so bad it won't fit through your shirt hole!" Knuckles growled. "Oh rest assured my dear knucklehead, I have no intentions of coming back here…since there won't be any here to come back to." Eggman chortled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Knuckles asked. Eggman merely chuckled, pressed a button on his control panel and quickly hovered away, but after the doctor flew off, Metal Sonic stayed back one moment to shoot an angry dagger at the echidna with its eyes, as if to say that their battle was not over, then the robot took off.

"Well at least the Master Emerald is safe." Knuckles sighed. "That was very wise of you to put up a force field." Blaze said. "Yeah…except…I didn't." Knuckles replied. Knuckles was about to run up the stairs to the shrine, when Cream spoke up. "Excuse me, but what are those robots doing?" she asked.

The group turned and saw a strange light coming from the feet of all the robots. Blaze examined one and her eyes widened in horror. "We have five minutes to get these robots off the island or there won't be any island!" she exclaimed. "There must be at least a hundred robots, there's no way we can pull this off!" Knuckles growled. "Yes we can! We've just gotta give it our all!" Houdini exclaimed. "I agree, the less time we spend debating this, the more time we have to save the island, and the Master Emerald, wouldn't you say that's worth trying?" Blaze asked. "Let's do this!" Knuckles started shoving robots towards the edge of the island, letting them fall down towards the canyon. Blaze and Gemerl also began shoving, while Houdini dragged robots by the arms and tossed them down.

But poor Cream was yanking on one measly Metal Sonic and moving only inches at a time, her six year old body just didn't have enough strength in it to tug the heavy metal very far. Houdini rushed over to her and tugged on the other arm to help her, which Blaze took notice of for just a moment.

Four minutes later, they regrouped. "Is that all of them?" Houdini asked. They heard a loud beep in a nearby tree; they turned around fast and saw the Metal Sonic that Blaze had blown a hole through to save Cream. "Hit the dirt!" Knuckles yelled. They hit the ground and covered their heads, they tensed when they heard the beep turn louder and faster, but instead of a loud boom, they heard a muffled puff. "Wasn't there supposed to be a boom?" Houdini asked.

Cautiously looking up, they looked towards the shrine and saw it glowing brightly, and then they looked back at where the robot used to be and saw a similar light that was slowly fading. "What's going on here? I didn't do that either." Knuckles said. The group walked up the stairs to the shrine where the emerald's light faded back to its normal intensity. "Is something wrong with the Master Emerald, Mr. Knuckles?" Cream asked.

"I don't know, but I don't remember it being able to do stuff like that, at least not on its own." Knuckles examined the emerald and tried to touch it, but the field Eggman had been complaining about zapped him. "He wasn't kidding." Knuckles held out his arms and attempted to connect to the emerald, and was shocked at what he felt. "That girl…" he mumbled.

"What did you say?" Blaze asked. "That girl…from the ancient tribe…I thought she died when she went back to the emerald…Tikal…another echidna…" Knuckles mumbled. "Mr. Knuckles?" Cream said. Knuckles slowly turned around, his eyes widened in shock. "I'm not the last echidna alive."

"This place hasn't gotten any less creepy…if anything it's gotten creepier." Ashley said, sticking close to the black hedgehog. "Just remember what we're looking for…what a time for Rouge to be on vacation, this is something only she'd enjoy." Shadow grumbled. "Who's Rouge?" Ashley asked. "A treasure hunter. We work in the same organization, but it just so happens she put in for a week's vacation a few days ago." Shadow replied.

"Hey I feel something cold!" Crash leaped into the bushes and pulled out an emerald. "Hey! Nice find Crash!" Dash exclaimed. "Let me see that." Shadow snatched the emerald from Crash's hand and examined it. "You could've at least congratulated me on finding one!" Crash yelled. "What do you want, a medal?" Shadow replied.

"He's not a nice person." Crash said. "Come on Ash, can't you see what a jerk this guy is?" Dash asked quietly. "He's not a jerk…he's just…determined." Ashley replied. "(Sigh) Whatever makes you happy. C'mon Crash, let's get going." Dash yanked his friend out of the bush and walked off in search of more emeralds. "Hey don't let it get to you man, come on you're burning up, just take it easy." Crash said.

"I'm not that mad, what are you talking about?" Dash asked. "Hold it." Shadow held out his arm to block them off, "I feel something…nearby." he said. The group looked around warily for what the black hedgehog was sensing. "What is it?" Ashley asked nervously. "I'm not sure…but I think it's…" Shadow suddenly blasted a Chaos Spear into the black foliage, and out of the shadows leaped a strange creature, his iris lacking eyes, boring holes into the group. Ashley jumped behind Shadow for protection, but the black hedgehog ignored her presence and advanced to meet the creature. "Come here Ash." Dash offered to hide the frightened hedgehog behind him, and in her state of fear, she gladly accepted the offer.

"Who are you?" Shadow asked. "I think that question is better asked by Me." the creature came out of the shadows and revealed himself, a strong and fit form that rivaled Shadow's, and a sleek tail swishing back and forth behind him. "Khanali, is my name. Khanali the Wolf." he said, "Now it's your turn."

"These three aren't important to you; however you should be worried about me. I'm the ultimate life form, Shadow the Hedgehog!" Shadow growled. "Perhaps where you're from, you may be considered the ultimate, but here, this is MY world…my accursed world." Khanali replied.

"Your world? What do you mean?" Dash asked, speaking up. "Your ultimate friend insisted you weren't important, I believe I will have all future communication with him, if you please." Khanali said. "Oh well, of course, I understand." Crash replied sarcastically.

"Dasher? You're burning up, are you sick?" Ashley asked with concern. "Oh now you're worried?" Dash bit his tongue when he saw Ashley's sincere expression. "I feel fine." he said sincerely. "So what brings you here to this world of opposites I rule?" Khanali asked.

"That's none of your concern." Shadow replied. "Could it be perhaps, you're looking for these?" Khanali held up a shining gem, its power radiating a freezing cold. "An emerald!" Ashley gasped. "So these gems ARE what you seek." Khanali said. "Hand it over." Shadow demanded.

But instead of complying, Khanali smugly walked around the black hedgehog. "I am uh…a rather curious wolf, Shadow my friend." he said coolly. "Curiosity has been known to kill." Shadow replied just as coolly. "Indeed…however I've found that curiosity is also the basis for learning, certain risks must be taken, wouldn't you agree?" Khanali said.

"I suppose." Shadow said. "I'd like to know more about these emeralds, where did they come from? What is their purpose?" Khanali asked. "How about this? You hand over that emerald, walk away and get back to doing whatever you were doing, and I won't tie your tail in a knot." Shadow replied, obviously irritated by the wolf's calm demeanor.

"Temper temper, that's no way to speak to someone, now is it? I'm merely offering to help you find these strange gems of yours." Khanali said, finally tossing the emerald to Shadow, "But before I help you, I would appreciate your help in a small task of mine."

"And what would that be?" Shadow asked. "I have a small problem; you'll know it when you see it, trust me." Khanali replied. Before Shadow could reply, Dash and the other two hedgehogs called him over. Shadow walked over and crossed his arms, "What?" he asked simply.

"There's something creepy about him." Crash said. "I don't trust him Shadow; I don't think we should follow him." Dash added. "I see, but you're not the one he'll listen to now are you?" Shadow said. "He won't listen because YOU told him not to!" Dash growled.

"Well I am the one most qualified to take command, so I decide to ignore you." Shadow turned to answer the wolf, but then Ashley spoke up. "Listen, I know how strong you are, and you prefer to do things alone, but this time I really think you should listen, we wanna help you!"

"Listen, I don't have to listen to a bunch of junk about teamwork from three tagalongs who have no idea what they're dealing with. If you really want to leave this place, then follow my lead and keep out of my way." Shadow turned towards the wolf, who was still patiently smiling at them, "Alright, it's a deal. But let me warn you, if I see something suspicious, I'll have to show you my ultimate power."

"I'm sure that a battle between your enormous forces and mine would be a very interesting test of power. Well no matter, shall we be off?" Khanali and Shadow led the way in the strange world, with the three very skeptical hedgehogs following closely behind.

"How much more can you take hedgehog? Face it, the girl is mine! My race will once again prosper!" Zero 3 cackled. Sonic growled and pushed himself back to his feet, Tails had already taken more than he could handle and was lying on the ground on the verge of unconsciousness. "You realize…that taking her for your purposes will only get you more hedgehogs right?" Sonic said.

"True, but you don't know the biology of my race…we reproduce using the bodies of who we take, and when we give birth, our offspring come out of the bodies, leaving empty shells behind so that they may grow up as normal beings." Zero 3 explained. "That's murder!" Amy shrieked. "Perhaps…of course that's all in the eye of the beholder." Zero replied.

"No way!" Sonic jumped towards Zero and kicked, but the super powered monster merely blocked and knocked Sonic back with a hard punch. "Sonic!" Amy cried. "Now we end this!" Zero roared. But before Zero could charge forward, the golden hedgehog flashed blue and fell to the ground. "Power…failing…need…recharge…"

"He's powering down…the super form really does work exactly the same!" Sonic said to himself. "It would seem that we're finished here." Zero said, his golden form steadily fading. "You can't leave now! The playing field just got leveled!" Now fully energized by the momentum change, Sonic charged forward and knocked the now normal Zero away with a hard roundhouse kick.

"Amy, you alright?" Sonic asked. "I am now." Amy embraced the blue hedgehog, who just chuckled before gently releasing himself from her grasp. "Do me a favor; take care of Tails for me. I'll take care of Zero!" Sonic ran off towards Zero, leaving Amy to tend to Tails. "He could've at least hugged me back." Amy said to herself with some disappointment.

"Let's party creep!" Sonic started a barrage of attacks on the monster, who in his weakened state could do nothing but take it. "You're finished!" Sonic gave one powerful punch that sent Zero flying, and ironically, the monster rammed into a very familiar vehicle. "Well Zero, it seems your power could use a refuel." Eggman said. "Eggman! You've pulled some wacky tricks in your time, but trying to open a maternity ward? That's priceless!" Sonic snickered.

"What are you babbling about?" Eggman asked. "I must…recreate…my race." Zero groaned. "Oh…now I understand. Very well Zero, you shall have your wish…but for now we must regroup, so take us out of here!" Zero growled and held up his hand, "Mark my words hedgehog, I WILL recreate my species." Zero used Chaos Control and warped himself and Eggman to an unknown place. Sonic clenched his fists and thought to himself, _"Not with her you won't."_ Sonic walked over to where Amy was busy getting Tails back on his feet. "You ok little bro?" he asked.

"Yeah…I think so…you ok?" Tails asked. "Kinda bruised, but nothing I can't handle." Sonic said cockily. "I can't believe he wanted to use me as a…(shudder), thanks for protecting me Sonic." Amy said. "Hey it's what I do." Sonic shrugged. "Well I think we found Zero's weakness, that fossil Eggman used is his shell." Tails said.

"But Zero has a body like Sonic's; doesn't that mean the shell is worthless now?" Amy asked. "Maybe, maybe not. I have to do some research on it. Let's call the others and tell them to regroup at my workshop." Tails said. "Sounds good to me Tails, you want me to check the Tornado and see if it can fly?" Sonic asked.

"If you want, just don't touch anything, I don't trust you with such sophisticated equipment." Tails smirked. "Ouch." Sonic joked. Sonic headed over to the plane, and Amy followed him. "What's up Ames?" he asked. "Nothing…I just wanted to thank you again for saving me." Amy replied.

Sonic grinned and closed his eyes, leaning against the plane with his hands behind his head. "Come on, you know that's what I do, you don't have to thank…" Sonic shut his mouth when he felt a soft pair of lips quickly touching his cheek and just as quickly backing off. Sonic turned around and started pretending to examine the plane, "Hey can you go get Tails and tell him I wanna get out of here?" he said without looking at the pink hedgehog.

"(Sigh) If you say so Sonic." Amy walked away with a certain amount of disappointment, but nevertheless she obeyed the wishes of the blue hedgehog she had fallen in love with so long ago. Sonic shyly turned towards Amy's direction and saw her walking away and huffed, not from annoyance…but maybe from something else…but what?  
_

**So this chapter was longer than usual, mostly because we have more to write about now. I did say from the very beginning that the farther we progressed, the more story there would be. So we see a few things here...the Master Emerald protecting itself...Shadow taking charge despite Dash and Co's protests to follow the strange wolf...and Sonic...is Amy getting to him differently than usual? More to come, so be ready!**


	9. Khanali's Deception

**A/N: Here's the next chapter gang! Enjoy!  
_**

"What you got so far Tails?" Sonic asked.

"Well…I managed to gather some info by analyzing the image of Zero's fossi – uh shell. By the looks of it, he was in hibernation for hundreds, maybe thousands of years! And on that judgment…and don't tell Shadow I did this, but I hacked into the A.R.K.'s data mainframe and looked into the possible alien races Zero could've been born from." Tails explained.

"And? What'd you find?" Blaze asked. "I think he's an Iosian." Tails quickly clicked the keys on his keyboard, and a rotating image of what looked like Zero popped up onto the screen. "That's repulsive." Blaze said. "The word I'd use is gross." Sonic joked.

"What do you think Ames? What would you call that creepy eyeball?" Sonic asked. Amy didn't reply, for whatever reason the pink hedgehog wasn't really in the mood to talk. "You ok?" he asked.

"Sure Sonic, just peachy." She pasted on a fake smile and nodded reassuringly, which Sonic decided to accept for the moment.  
"So that's what the monster that took Mr. Sonic's body REALLY looks like?" Cream asked, obviously growing slightly squeamish from the image.

"Well that's just a general image, from what I've found, there were more varieties than that." Tails replied.

"Anything on Amy's suggestion?" Sonic asked. "That I can't tell without further analysis of Zero's true anatomy, or at the very least actually getting our hands on his shell and getting a direct look at it. With this image I can figure out what he is through the A.R.K. archives, and what his race looked like, but nothing on how to actually destroy him." Tails replied.

"So that means we'll have to take him down while he has Sonic's body."  
Houdini commented. "That should be a lot of fun for a certain knucklehead we all know and love, eh Knux?" Sonic snickered. But Knuckles was busy holding his hands over the Master Emerald he had taken the liberty of moving from the shrine to the workshop, still in shock over the fact that he had possibly found another one of his kind.

"What? Knuckles is in his own little world too?" Sonic sighed. "He's been that way ever since we left his island. He mentioned something about an echidna girl." Blaze replied. Amy's ears perked up at this. "Did you say an echidna girl?" she asked.

"Yes…Tikal was the name, if I recall correctly." Blaze said. Sonic, Tails, and Amy exchanged glances at each other before staring at the guardian who was still mindlessly running his spiked hands over the glowing rock. "No wonder he's like that, do you think Tikal is actually alive?" Amy asked.

"I'd like to know what changed that made the Master Emerald suddenly react the way Cream described it. If Tikal really IS in there, why didn't she do something all those other times the emerald was in danger?" Tails wondered.

"Maybe she was testing Knuckles' guardian skills." Sonic snickered.  
"Sonic, don't be insensitive!" Amy scolded. "Come on Ames, I'm just teasing. You don't mind, right Knux?" Sonic asked. Knuckles just growled lowly and shot an icy glare at the blue hedgehog, before going back to tenderly running his hands over the emerald.

"Geez, chill out." Sonic scoffed. "I feel I must agree with Amy on this matter. Many times have I felt alone in the world because there was no one else around to relate to me, however in Knuckles' case it's more severe…if what you told me is true and he IS the last living echidna, having another of his species suddenly make herself known would be quite shocking to him." Blaze explained.

"Alright, so let's bust up the Master Emerald and let her out! That's how it worked last time right?" Sonic suggested. "Don't touch it!" Knuckles roared. Everyone in the room was caught off guard by the sudden outburst of the fuming echidna.

"I swear to you Sonic, if you even lay one grimy mitt on this emerald, I'll knock your block off and ground it into paste!"  
Even Sonic didn't have a snarky comeback; the echidna was acting extremely out of character.

He had always been protective of the Master Emerald, and on a couple of occasions had battled Sonic because of it, but only when Eggman had fooled him into believing that Sonic was out to steal it, this time there was no deception, just pure rage. "I'm sorry Knuckles." Sonic managed to say.  
Knuckles growled again, and looked at the emerald once more; closing his eyes as if to absorb its warm energy and try to calm his tormented soul.

"Mr. Knuckles…" Cream whispered. "Let's just leave him alone, he'll be ok after a little while." Amy suggested.

"Fine…you know what I just noticed? Shadow isn't back yet, and neither are Dash and his buddies." Sonic said. "Yeah that is weird, I called them and they didn't respond." Tails replied. "You suppose they're in some sort of trouble?" Houdini asked.

"Well Shadow did mention that communication would be difficult where they were going, maybe the Negative Zone gives off a certain frequency that blocks incoming radio signals." Tails suggested. "So how are we supposed to know if they need help?" Cream asked.

"I guess we don't. All we can do is to try and get a little rest; it is getting late after all." Tails said. "Yeah…I am getting kind of sleepy." the young rabbit rubbed at her eyes tiredly, which gained some sympathy from Amy and Blaze. "Tails, do you have a guestroom somewhere?" Amy whispered. "Yeah, I'll take her there." Tails replied.

"Come on Cream, I'll take you to the guestroom where you can get some sleep." Tails gently pushed the already half asleep rabbit towards the guestroom, with Cream involuntarily resting her head on his shoulder. The fatigue from the day's activities caught up to her suddenly, and she was quickly losing awareness of her actions.

Tails didn't mind though, he was glad to be able to help his blissfully innocent friend find peace and comfort after all they had gone through that day, especially her close run-in with death. And somehow, he was actually enjoying the innocent contact they were sharing, it made his heart beat in a way that…it hadn't in a long time.

Walking into the door of the guestroom, Tails helped the tired rabbit into the already made up bed, that was honestly much too big for her tiny body, not that she would complain, at least she had space to get comfortable. Cheese flew under the covers and joined the young rabbit girl, who was already snoozing comfortably.

"G'night Cream." Tails whispered. The fox boy smiled and turned off the lights, walking past a certain flower pot on the way back, he sighed and got his mind back on track, he couldn't be distracted now, he had to be like Sonic, no looking back.

"Amy, can you call Vanilla and tell her that Cream's gonna stay here where we know it's safe?" Tails asked. "Sure thing." Amy walked over to the phone and dialed the Rabbit household, leaving the others to continue planning. "So, what's the plan Tails?" Sonic asked.

"The first thing I wanna do is find a way to get in contact with Shadow and the others. It would make sense that Shadow would ignore us if that is the case, cause, you know, he IS Shadow. But we can't know for sure until we actually DO get in contact with them." Tails explained.

Just then, Amy walked up again. "Well we don't have to worry about Vanilla. Turns out she called Vector and the Chaotix…well…mostly Vector…anyways she's ok with Cream staying here." she explained, "So, what's the plan?"

"Nothing yet, but what I'd REALLY like to do is find a way to contact Shadow." Tails replied. "Well why not try and contact Dash? He has a communicator too." Amy suggested. "Great idea! Good thinking Amy!" Tails complimented. The young fox hurried to his computer and started typing in an attempt to discern exactly what frequency Dash's wrist communicator was set to.

"While Tails attempts to contact your new friend, I think I will go and take a lookout position. We do have Knuckles' Master Emerald here, so it couldn't do any harm." Blaze said. "Alright then, I'll take your spot in a couple of hours." Sonic replied.

"If you don't mind, could I join you?" Houdini asked. "I suppose." Blaze sighed. Blaze and Houdini walked out of the workshop and hopped onto the roof, keeping a vigilant watch for danger.

When they left, Amy quietly giggled to herself, but Sonic managed to catch it. "What's so funny?" he asked. "Just the thought, Sonic the Hedgehog STANDING STILL on guard duty." she laughed. "Oh so you think I can't handle it huh?" Sonic asked playfully.

"I don't THINK, I KNOW you can't. After about five minutes you'll be begging for someone to take your place so you can run around." Amy replied. "Yeah right! Have a little faith in my willpower; I can control my need for speed." Sonic insisted, crossing his arms playfully.

"Fine, whatever." she giggled. After a yawn and a stretch from Amy, Sonic decided some sleep was in order for the young pink hedgehog. "Well, we have a long day tomorrow, emerald hunting, monster chasing, why don't ya get some sleep yourself?" Sonic suggested.

"Yeah, I think I will…can you do me a favor though?" Amy asked, suddenly very timid in her approach. "Uh sure, what is it?" the blue hedgehog replied.  
"Wake me up when it's your turn for lookout duty, I don't want you to have to be all alone out there." Amy said, her eyes practically begging for the answer she wanted.

Sonic was taken aback by the request. If he said no, Amy would probably be really upset with him, and confidentially he never liked that. But on the other hand, if he said yes, what would it look like to anyone else who saw them? Or worse, what danger would he be bringing her into?

Before he could reply, he noticed that Amy had gotten considerably closer to him, and he was starting to feel a rush of nervous energy well up inside him. "You run now, you're dead later." he tried to internally tell his restless feet. "It could be dangerous, what if Eggman or Metal Sonic, or even Zero shows up?" Sonic asked, maybe she would be dissuaded by the potential danger.

"So what if they show up? I'd rather be there to help then be inside while you took them on alone; I wouldn't be able to stand it if…" Amy stopped herself, her emotions were beginning to get the better of her, she remembered the sight of Sonic unconscious after Tails accidently put him into a deadly coma after the split from Zero, how despaired and sad she was, seeing her everything so vulnerable and weak.

She had wanted him to just wake up so she could see his bright, emerald  
green eyes again, his cocky grin…what brought her to actually try and kiss him awake? She already knew what she felt for him ran deeper than a fan girl crush, but did HE know that was the case? Should she try and tell him?

Seeing Amy begin to get swept up in her emotions hurt him, he never liked seeing any of his friends cry, for some reason though Amy's tears stuck out the most in his mind. Why was that? He was the kind of person who would do just about anything to make his friends feel safe and secure, his own life would mean nothing if he had failed to protect one of his friends, but maybe that need to see them, to see HER safe was what made him always triumph.

He had always fought for the greater good so that his friends could see another day, but he couldn't help but wonder why this time he felt so different about only HER. "Hey, Ames?" his voice made her turn back to him, she was shocked at how timid he looked, she had only seen him like that a few times before. Shyly, Sonic took her hand and gave it a soft squeeze, his hedgehog heart starting to pound.

"If you want…I'll wake you up. I could use a little company." Sonic smiled at her, not the usual sideways grin he wore, but a sincere, tender smile he rarely ever used. Amy beamed and smiled at him, which lifted Sonic's spirits and gave him a boost of confidence. Seeing her made happy was enough to make his heart swell with pride.

"Thank you Sonic." Amy was thrilled not only because he said yes, but because he was still gently holding her hand. "No prob." he let go of her hand and took off outside, getting a minute to recollect himself.

"You sure know how to get to him." Knuckles snickered. "Oh, go back to petting that dumb rock!" Amy replied. Knuckles growled and did just that.

"So, how many of these emeralds do you have?" Khanali asked, admiring the yellow gem Shadow had allowed him to hold. "So far just that one. But with any luck we'll soon find the rest, whether they're here in this world or not." Shadow replied. "Oh I do hope I'll be of some assistance to you, and at the same time I do hope you'll be of assistance to me." Khanali said.

"This guy is way too weird." Crash whispered. "Reminds me of you." Dash joked. "Hey!" Crash jabbed at his friend, provoking them both to laugh. "Could you two act professional? Look at Shadow, nothing's stopping him from finding…hey I feel a cold spot!" Ashley looked around, and there in a dead, leafless tree, a green glowing gem shined.  
Ashley jumped up into the tree and held up the gem victoriously.

"Nice find Ash!" Dash cheered. Ashley playfully curtsied and hopped out of the tree to walk back to the others. "Ahh yes, splendid." Khanali commented, "So would I be correct in assuming that you still have five more to find?"

"You would not. Dr. Eggman has two of them as well." Shadow replied. "Who is this Dr. Eggman?" Khanali asked. "You just don't know how to shut up do you?" Shadow grumbled, letting his irritation show. "Well you know the old saying, if you don't ask questions you don't get any answers." Khanali replied.

"Then talk to the tagalongs, I'm sure they'd be more than happy to answer whatever questions you have." Shadow moved on ahead of the wolf, who turned to face the three other hedgehogs. "Well your leader says I should talk to you now. Can YOU tell me who Dr. Eggman is?" Khanali asked.  
"He's this psycho guy who wants to take over the world!" Crash exclaimed. Dash and Ashley sweat-dropped at the younger hedgehog's outburst, however Khanali was very interested. "I see you took charge. I like you my friend; you have a certain attitude that appeals to me." Khanali said.  
"Whoa wait a second dude, I'm straight I don't have ANY interest in…" Dash bonked the cyan hedgehog on the head before he could finish his sentence. "Ow! What was that for?" Crash asked. "That's not what he meant you idiot!" Dash replied.

"Indeed." Khanali said rather shocked, "I assure you my intentions are not so vulgar." Khanali turned around to walk back over to Shadow. "Nice going Crash, now we can't find out what he REALLY wants." Dash growled. "Well geez I was just trying to help!" Crash replied.

"Knock it off, both of you. I'm sure Shadow can handle this." Ashley hissed. Upon hearing that, Dash picked up the pace and tried to avoid the purple girl, he was simply sick and tired of hearing her talk about Shadow the Hedgehog.

"Well, this is the location of my problem." Khanali said.  
They had been led to a large clearing, where there were dead trees and dark bushes and rocks surrounding them. But there was also something else about the place.

"Hey, it's FREEZING here!" Ashley exclaimed. Looking around, the group spotted three emeralds all sitting in a pile.  
"Hey! The rest of the emeralds!" Dash exclaimed. "I'll get 'em!" Crash ran to snag the emeralds, but Shadow sensed that something was wrong.

"Hold on a second!" he yelled. But it was too late, Crash had grabbed the emeralds and was about to walk over to them, when a (insert monster hereiujhu) jumped at Crash, making him drop the emeralds and fall down. The monster then swooped down and scratched Crash's arm before flying back towards Khanali, who was now laughing evilly.

Dash and Ashley ran to their friend while Shadow just growled at Khanali. "Hey Crash, come on man, get up!" Dash exclaimed. When Dash reached over to Crash's form, his entire body changed for a moment before changing back. "What the?" Dash gasped. "What did that thing do to our friend?" Ashley screamed.

"Nothing lethal I assure you. I merely asked for your help and you've just provided it. You see the Negative Zone's atmosphere has rather interesting germs that change the biological structure of creatures when cell damage occurs. Your friend here will now help me study this phenomenon." Khanali explained.

"Over my dead body!" Dash's temper was flaring now, and the black and blue hedgehog readied a blast of ice…except what he fired was anything but ice. "Huh?"

Khanali leaped out of the way growling. "So you're an ice elemental in the regular world." he grumbled. Dash looked at his smoking hands in horror, "What's happening to me?" he asked. "Nothing you idiot! The zone reverses everything remember? Your ice powers are fire here!" Shadow growled.

"I warned you wolf, now you'll suffer for your trickery!" Shadow launched a Chaos Spear at the wolf, who merely leaped out of the way and fired a freezing blast of icy wind. "Wait a second, if he's ice…and I'm fire…" Dash got himself warmed up, quite literally at this point, and launched a furious blast of flame that shocked even himself.

"I can see that you're going to be a pain in this battle, so now I must get serious…" Khanali turned towards Shadow, "Ultimate life form, here are the enormous forces you'll be facing!" Khanali's eyes began glowing, and the entire area surrounding them suddenly turned ice cold.

"Let's go!" Shadow grabbed the emeralds and took off. "But wait! What about…" Dash clenched his fists and faced Khanali. "Tell me how to change him back!" Dash's hands ignited and crackled with flames, but the wolf simply chuckled softly.

"There is no known way to reverse the process, that's why I need your friend here. You have the emeralds you were looking for, is it not sufficient payment for a test subject?" Khanali asked. "I don't care about any dumb rocks; I just want my friend back!" Dash slung his now brown friend over his shoulder, "Ash, let's bolt!" Dash took off running with the purple girl not far behind.

Khanali just laughed softly to himself. "Fools. Get them my pet." Khanali pointed off into the distance where the trio was slowly disappearing over the horizon. The monster chased after them, shooting balls of ice out of its mouth. "Ashley, cover me!" Dash yelled. "But…I can't here! Shadow, help us!" Ashley cried.

Shadow ignored the cries of the girl and merely picked up the pace. "Geez he's such a…Ashley catch!" Dash frustratingly heaved Crash into the air for the strong girl hedgehog to catch and run with. Then using his reversed powers, Dash set up a wall of flame to block off the creature and take off running.

But the creature wasn't stopped for long, and began to gain on them. "Hurry up already!" Shadow opened the portal and zoomed out. "Come on Ashley, we're almost there!" Dash encouraged. Just before they reached the portal, Ashley tripped and Crash went flying forward, just outside the portal that was slowly shrinking. "Shadow, help us out!" Dash yelled.

Dash's cry fell on non-existent ears, Shadow was long gone and heading for Tails' workshop. "Still think he's all that?" Dash growled, "Look out!" Dash pulled Ashley up and away from the monster before it could slash at her as well. "That thing nails us and we'll wind up like Crash!" Ashley exclaimed.

"Not on my watch…go! Get out of here!" Dash yelled. "But Dasher, what about you?" Ashley asked worriedly. "Forget about me, just make you sure YOU get out alive!" Dash roared. Ashley looked back and forth for a few moments, but eventually obeyed and dove through the portal.  
"Alright you…let's see you take this!" Dash charged all his energy into one powerful burst of flame, that managed to temporarily stun the monster, but also severely weakened himself as well.

"Alright Crash, it's now or never." Dash panted. Dash pumped his legs as hard as he could and dragged his friend towards the portal that was now just about ready to close.

"You can't leave now. Not while you have my specimen." Khanali grabbed Crash from Dash's already weak grip, and wound up a punch that knocked Dash through the portal. "Fools." he chuckled. Dash quickly got up and rushed for the Negative Zone portal, but when he dove for it, he merely fell flat on his face, on real world dirt. "He got him…he got Crash…Shadow LET him have Crash!" Dash growled.

Dash hurried to the portal entrance and tried to generate enough power to open the portal again, but his weakened condition practically forbade him to exert any sort of energy. "I can't. I don't have enough power…but I know who does…and he's gonna get it!" Dash clenched his fists and took off running for Tails' workshop, if he couldn't get his friend back on his own, he would grab Shadow by the throat and force him to open the portal even if he died trying.

"Hang on buddy, I'm coming for you."  
_

**A/N: Well looks like Dash has a bone to pick with the ultimate lifeform. What happens next? Only one way to find out.**


	10. Cold Heat

**Next Chapter.**

"So Blaze, tell me what it's like in your dimension." Houdini said, as the two kept a watchful eye for danger. "It isn't that much different from this one, other than anyone I've ever considered a friend is in this one." Blaze replied. "Cream told me you're learning to make friends…you had a hard time growing up huh?" Houdini asked.

"Yes…I suppose so." Blaze replied. "You wanna talk about it? It's ok if you don't, I just wanna try and understand you better." Houdini said. Blaze looked at the glider who was gently smiling at her, something about his warm expression made her feel warmer than usual inside as well…where had she felt that before? "Do you promise to keep all that I say to yourself?" she asked seriously, her expression probably more intimidating than she meant.

Houdini's smile remained, "Cross my heart, as long as you're happy I'll do it." he replied. "I grew up as an outcast because of my flames…everyone considered me a freak of nature to be shunned…but instead of being emotional about it, I adapted and adopted a lifestyle where I didn't need anyone else, I basically turned away from everyone who had turned me away first." Blaze said.

"Sounds pretty tough." Houdini commented. "Looking back, I suppose it was. Well it eventually fell upon me to guard the Sol Emeralds, the gems that basically held my world together…without them, within a week or so my world would start to fall apart, I decided to accept the job since I was already a loner and the job simply meant I would watch over the emeralds, and I figured I would spend the rest of my life by myself." Blaze continued,

"But then one day…I met Sonic. And at first, I quite honestly didn't trust him, which I thought was fair since he didn't trust me either at first. Our two worlds were merging thanks to my arch-nemesis Eggman Nega and Dr. Eggman working together. After a while, we learned to trust each other, and thanks to him and Cream, I…opened up a little, he taught me what friendship was like…and I am eternally grateful to him." Blaze concluded.

"Can I…ask you something Blaze?" Houdini asked. "Go right ahead." she replied. "Do you…feel anything towards Sonic?" Houdini asked, somewhat nervous as to the answer. "Feel? I don't understand. He's my friend." Blaze replied. "What I mean is…do you feel differently about him than you do about everyone else? Including Cream." Houdini asked.

Blaze pondered this for a moment, there was that strange feeling she felt when she found out Amy had been the one to bring Sonic back to consciousness, but she couldn't figure out what it was or what it meant. "I'm…not sure." she finally said.

"Well, I just don't want you to get hurt." Houdini said. "Why would I get hurt? There's no danger." Blaze replied. "No Blaze, I mean…hurt on the inside, your heart, your feelings." Houdini said earnestly, "It seems to me that…Sonic may have feelings for Amy, deep down inside that is. I just want you to be careful that you don't get hurt by him, even if he doesn't mean to."

"I still don't entirely understand, but I thank you anyway for your concern. I think I would enjoy being friends with you as well Houdini, you remind me of a knight I used to read about as a child. Gallant, chivalrous, compassionate. All admirable qualities, that is how I feel about you." Blaze said.

Houdini smiled at that. "Well, for a girl who isn't good with feelings, that sure sounded heartfelt. You know…maybe after all this is over, I would really like if we could…" Houdini was cut off when Blaze held up her hand with her feline ears perked up. "Someone is near."

Houdini perked up his ears as well, and he too heard what the cat was hearing, "It's coming from over there." Houdini pointed towards a distant clearing, and a black blur zoomed over with a purple hedgehog trailing about a few miles away, obviously running slower than the leader. "It's Shadow…and I feel the emeralds!" Blaze rushed down and left Houdini on the roof. "Well, it's a start." he sighed. Houdini then followed along, getting the attention of Tails who was still working feverishly on his computer.

"What's going on?" the young fox yawned, obviously exhausted from the work. "Shadow's returned, and he has the Sol Emeralds!" Blaze exclaimed. "Shadow? Are Dash and his friends with him?" Tails exclaimed, now fully awake. Blaze opened the door and immediately snatched the emeralds from the black hedgehog who simply walked in without a word.

"Yes…these are definitely the real ones. I wish to thank you Shadow." Blaze said. Shadow merely nodded and walked into a corner to relax. By now everyone who was previously asleep woke up. "Hey Shadow, found the emeralds huh? Nice work." Sonic said.

"No thanks to those tagalongs you sent with me. Next time you want to split up, split me into a team of one." Shadow grumbled. "Hey wait, where are Dash and the others?" Tails asked. As if on cue, Ashley burst through the door, panting with utter exhaustion. "Dash and Crash…Negative Zone…" she gasped. Amy and Blaze each took one side of the exhausted hedgehog girl and led her to a chair so she could relax.

"Here Ms. Ashley, have some water!" Cream handed the purple hedgehog a glass, and she greedily gulped it down. "Now say that again, slowly." Tails said. "We were running from this monster in the Negative Zone, Crash got mutated by it and we tried to escape but…it was too strong…I couldn't help Dash, my powers didn't work in there for some reason…he tried to fight them off, let me get away. I haven't heard from him since." Ashley said.

"Well why didn't Mr. Shadow help?" Cream asked. "He…probably didn't hear us." Ashley replied. Knuckles suddenly got a message from the emerald. "That's not true." Knuckles said. "What do you mean that's not true?" Sonic asked. "Shadow heard them…he refused to help them!" Knuckles growled.

"I was told to get the emeralds, not babysit three amateurs." Shadow said nonchalantly. "Shadow! How could you be so selfish? They followed to try and help you! To help us!" Amy exclaimed. "Selfish? I gave the emeralds to that cat girl didn't I? If you can't appreciate what I've done, I don't need to be here." Shadow replied.

Before anyone else could say anything, one last exhausted figure burst though the workshop door, sweat dripping from his brow and his fists clenched in fury. "Dasher! You're alright!" Ashley exclaimed happily. But Dash didn't acknowledge her, and simply stomped over to Shadow whose face remained stone cold. "You…you heartless monster…we called for help at least twice and you ignored us, left us to fight that monster all by ourselves…practically left us to die at the hands of some psychotic wolf!" Dash growled.

"Dash, where's Crash?" Ashley asked worriedly. Dash drooped his head in sorrow. "I couldn't save him. It took everything I had to stop Khanali's monster, I was exhausted by the time I got close enough to the portal, he punched me out of the Zone and I couldn't get back to the portal in time…and I don't have the power to open it again…Khanali has him…" Dash turned back to Shadow with an expression as cold as the ice emanating from his hand, "And you let him have him!" Dash charged Shadow in a fit of rage, but the ultimate lifeform merely stepped out of the way. "You really wanna do this?" Shadow asked.

"Dasher, just calm down ok?" Ashley said, trying to soothe the flaring temper of her longtime friend. "Calm down? YOU could've died too! You expect me to just accept the fact that he almost let you die AND let Crash be captured by some creepy wolf that's experimenting on his body? I didn't sign up for this!" Dash yelled. "No one asked you to." Shadow replied.

"Shut up!" Dash charged for Shadow again, and this time the black and blue hedgehog managed to nail Shadow with a swift punch. "Hey guys, chill out!" Sonic exclaimed. Shadow shook his heads and growled lowly. "You'll regret that." Shadow warped him and Dash out of the room, leaving the others to wonder where they went. "We gotta find them, Shadow will kill him!" Ashley cried.

Shadow and Dash reappeared in an open field, the black and blue hedgehog surprised by the sudden change of scenery. "There's still time for you to come to your senses." Shadow said coolly. "Only if you apologize for acting like a jerk and help me get my friend back!" Dash spat back. "Apologies aren't my thing." Shadow chuckled. "Then I'll choke it out of you!" Dash charged again, but Shadow warped away and reappeared from behind the ice wielding hedgehog, and gave him a sharp kick in the back that sent him flying. "Let that be a lesson to you." Shadow said.

But Dash got back up and raised his fists again, "If you honestly think I'm just gonna back down now…the way you treat my friends…Ashley idolizes you and this how you repay that admiration. I don't know what she sees in you." he growled. "This bickering is pointless; I honestly don't have any desire for excessive violence." Shadow sighed. "Then help me get my friend back and there won't be any!" Dash replied. "I don't do charity; I got the emeralds for the sake of the whole world. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one." Shadow said. "Not to me they don't!" Dash charged again, but Shadow simply stopped Dash in his tracks with a hard block and jabbed him in the gut, putting Dash on his knees.

"Ready to give up?" Shadow asked. But still Dash dragged himself back to his feet, wobbling from the pain and fatigue, but still determined to get what he wanted. "You're an idiot." Shadow shook his head. "And you're a bastard." Dash croaked. Shadow was about to reel back and deal the finishing blow when he was tackled by streaks of blue and red. "Enough already Shadow!" Knuckles growled. "Get off of me." Shadow growled. Sonic and Knuckles released the black hedgehog who dusted himself off and crossed his arms upon release.

Meanwhile on the other side, Ashley was hurrying to check on her longtime best friend. She embraced him softly and checked for any damage, "Oh Dasher I'm so sorry, are you alright?" she asked worriedly. Dash shrugged her off and dusted himself off, grimacing as he hit a tender spot on his body. "Listen Dash, sorry about Shadow there but he's got a serious attitude problem." Sonic said. "Forget it…I'm getting sick and tired of this whole thing." Dash grumbled. "Listen, we'll find a way to get Crash back, I promise." Sonic said. Dash hesitated for a moment, "Dash come on, they're offering you their help, isn't the important thing that we get Crash back?" Ashley asked. After a few more seconds, Dash nodded and followed the group back to the workshop.

"You can come if you want Shadow." Sonic said. "Never mind, I'll handle things my own way. See you around Sonic." Shadow turned and walked away, leaving to Sonic to shake his head in exasperation. "Shadow, one day I hope you get your head on straight."

Meanwhile, back in the Death Egg, Eggman, Zero, and Metal Sonic, who was currently getting some repairs, were plotting their next move. "Well Zero, it would seem that you had plans for that miserable pink brat." Eggman said as he took the welding iron to Metal Sonic's midsection. "Doctor, my race must be repopulated, and this body that I've taken is only compatible with the female of the species." Zero replied. "Perhaps you should change your target then, any female hedgehog will do, I'm sure even a cat would suffice." Eggman said.

"Perhaps Doctor, but I only know of the one female." Zero said. "That purple cat you fought was a female as well." Eggman replied. "Is that so? Perhaps I should go after her instead." Zero said. Just then, something clicked in Eggman's mind. "No." he said simply. "What was that?" Zero asked. "I said no. You will NOT change your target." Eggman said. "But didn't you just finish explaining that I should?" Zero asked. "Yes, but that was before I got this brilliant plan. Not only will you get the female you need for breeding, but we will also finally get rid of Sonic the Hedgehog, once and for all.  
_

**A/N: Next coming soon. Darn these technical difficulties.**


	11. Captured!

**Next chapter anyone?  
_**

"You're back!" When Ashley saw her best friend walk in the door, she leapt from her seat and embraced him, which made him wince from the beating Shadow had given him. "What happened to Shadow?" she asked. When he heard that, he broke free and walked over to where Tails was still working. "Well you know Shadow; he does things his own way." Sonic replied, "Hey Knux, thanks for stepping up buddy."

"I guess I couldn't let Dash get knocked out by Shadow, he was just trying to get Crash back." Knux walked back to the emerald and held his hands over it, trying to see if he could communicate with the echidna girl he had sensed back on Angel Island. "If you ask me Shadow's behavior was totally uncalled for! How could he just let Dash's friend get captured like that?" Amy hissed angrily. "He probably had other things on his mind." Ashley replied. At this point, Dash had taken all he could. "Why are you still defending him?" he snapped, "He's done everything except kill us himself and you STILL feel he's worth giving any sort of consideration?"

"I have to agree with Dash on this, why are you blindly defending the actions of Shadow despite all he's done to you?" Blaze asked. "Well…because…I kinda like him." Ashley replied. "I don't understand." Blaze said. "You don't?" Ashley asked. Before Blaze could further inquire, Houdini came and moved her aside. "I'll explain it to her later." he said with a nod. "Enough of this bull! How are we gonna get Crash back?" Dash growled. Before anyone could respond, Knuckles' eyes widened in shock. "Hey…I just got a message from Tikal! Eggman's…" Before Knuckles could finish, an alarm went off in the workshop. "Tails, what's happening?" Cream cried.

"Trouble in Station Square! Eggman must be there!" Tails exclaimed. "At 4:30 in the morning?" Ashley asked. "Eggman doesn't really have a sense of common courtesy." Amy replied. "Any sign of Zero?" Sonic asked. "There's only two unusual readings there, one of them's gotta be Eggman, but the other one could either be Zero or Metal Sonic." Tails replied. "Well there's only one way to find out!" Sonic exclaimed excitedly, "Knux, Blaze, I could use a hand!"

"What about me Sonic? I wanna help too!" Amy asked. "Ahh…Amy…y-you just stay here where's it safe. Dash, you wanna come along?" Sonic asked. "Hold on a second! What about Crash? He's still in that freaky world having who knows what done to him!" Dash growled. "I think I can handle that!" Houdini replied. "You? How can you fight off the monsters they described without any special powers?" Blaze asked. "I don't NEED any powers! I'm a master escape artist remember? All I have to do is escape in reverse!" Houdini exclaimed.

"Perfect! Now hurry up guys, Eggman must be there for a reason!" Tails exclaimed. "Wait! There's only one problem! I don't have any way to get into the Negative Zone without powers! How am I gonna get in?" Houdini asked. "You can forget using the Master Emerald." Knuckles growled. "What about one of the Sol Emeralds?" Cream suggested. Tails typed on his keyboard and confirmed it, "Another great idea Cream! That'll be more than enough power to activate the portal!"

Then all eyes fell on Blaze, who merely looked around at everyone incredulously. "You must be joking." she said. "Come on Blaze! I'm helping you guys with Eggman; help me get my friend back!" Dash begged. Blaze looked over at the desperate black and blue hedgehog who was seconds away from getting on his hands and knees to beg her. Then she looked over to the only one who had been trying to get to know her the whole time she had been in Sonic's dimension. "I can't get in without an emerald." he said.

After a few moments of hesitation, Blaze walked up to Houdini and took his hands in hers, and placed an emerald in them before pulling away. "I am entrusting you with my greatest treasure, please take care of it." she said. Houdini held the warm emerald in his hand and tightened his fist around it, showing that he would never let it go until it was time to give it back to its rightful owner. "I'm honored by your trust in me." he replied. "Save the hugs and kisses for later! Get going and find Crash!" Dash yelled. Both Blaze and Houdini blushed, although the cat didn't really understand why.  
"Alright then, Blaze?" Sonic asked. "I'm ready." Blaze replied. "Knuckles?" Sonic asked. "What about the emerald?" he asked. "I'll program Gemerl to guard it for you." Tails replied. "I suppose I could let it slide this time…Tails, make sure Tikal – I-I mean the emerald stays safe." Knuckles stammered. "Don't worry Knuckles, I got it." Tails replied.

"How about you Dash? You coming?" Sonic asked. "Are you gonna need help Houdini?" Dash asked. "It'd be best if I went alone, sneaking around is easier when it's just me." Houdini replied. "Then I might as well make myself useful, it's not like SHADOW will be any help now. RIGHT, Ashley?" Dash spat. Ashley winced a little at the bitter attitude Dash was giving her, but she thought it was justified since she HAD been rather unfair to him because of her infatuation for the emo hedgehog that had abandoned them. "I guess so." she mumbled.

"Hurry up Sonic! Eggman's going nuts over there!" Tails exclaimed. "Right! Alright troops, let's go!" Sonic shouted. The group took off running. "Sonic wait!" Amy cried. Sonic stopped in his tracks, and hesitantly turned around to face the pink hedgehog that had just shouted in desperation. "Yeah Amy?" he asked. "Are…are you sure you don't want me to go with you? I won't get in the way, I promise!" she begged. As much as it pained Sonic to see her so worried, he just couldn't find it in him to purposely put her into harm's way, what if she had gotten hurt? Blaze had years of experience and special powers under her belt, so he had no problem letting her go fight, but Amy…Amy was much more delicate…more prone to weakness emotionally, if he had gotten hurt during the fight, the battle would have lost two fighters instead of one since she most certainly would've dropped everything to tend to him.

Plus, if SHE had gotten hurt, he'd never forgive himself, he had made it a personal point to rescue her whenever she got into danger, ever since that first day on Little Planet when they first met he had protected her. "Amy I…" for a moment Sonic thought about letting her go, but his common sense got control of his heart and forced him to make a stand, or at the very least…make a white lie. "Amy I want you to stay here and protect Cream and the Master Emerald, after all you know what that knucklehead will get like if something happens to it." he snickered, hoping she'd buy it. She didn't.  
"I don't care about the emerald! I care about YOU! Please Sonic, let me go too!" Amy begged. Sonic glanced behind the pink girl for help and caught the sight of Tails; the two brothers at heart shared an almost telepathic message as Tails nodded. "Amy I'd actually prefer if you stayed, I'd like for someone to stay behind just in case something happens somewhere else." the fox said. "But I…" Amy stammered. "Don't worry Ames; I'll be ok, take care of everyone ok?" Sonic winked at her and took off running. "Ok Sonic…I'll do my best." she sighed.

Sonic caught up with his friends who were rushing towards Station Square. "What happened Sonic?" Blaze asked. "Ahh, Amy didn't want me to go without her, but I don't want her getting hurt ya know?" Sonic replied. "I understand your concern." Blaze replied. "Good, now let's change the subject, like what we should do once we send Eggman packing!" Sonic laughed. "Sonic, I'd like to speak to you later alone, is that alright?" Blaze asked. "Sure thing Blaze, but for now let's handle Eggman!" Sonic blasted forward with a burst of speed and left the cat behind, his overexcitement getting him to move faster than usual.

After a little while, the group of heroes made it to Station Square, where buildings were crumbling and cars and trucks were crashed all over the place. "Where are all the humans?" Blaze asked. "Looks like they bolted once Eggman showed up." Knuckles replied. "Boy Eggman's got some nerve, attacking the city for no real reason." Sonic said. The group then heard another explosion in the distance, "Think we found him?" Dash asked. "That sounded like it came from Twinkle Park! Let's go!" Sonic ran ahead of his friends who quickly followed. Once they reached Twinkle Park, they saw it was on fire, and another explosion near the roller coaster proved they were right about Eggman's location. "Eggman, where are you?" Sonic yelled. As if on cue, from the wreckage of the theme park came the familiar hum of Eggman's hovercraft and next to him was the monster, Zero 3.

"There you are you psycho!" Knuckles roared. Eggman chortled evilly. "I prefer to be called, 'evil genius' if you don't mind. I knew a little random destruction would get your attention Sonic, although I must say I'm less than thrilled to see you made it out of the coma that your fox friend put you in."

"You should know better than to try and take out a hero! Now whaddya say we finish this here and now?" Sonic replied. "Why the rush Sonic? Don't you want to see what it is I've done here? I think I've gotten off to a fine start to destroying what will one day soon be the capital city of the Eggman Empire." Eggman chortled. "You're just as mad now as when I first met you." Blaze hissed. "Let's not call it mad, I think the word 'eccentric' would fit better if you MUST insult me, however I prefer to think of it as fulfilling a lifelong dream, is that truly what you consider 'mad' my dear?" Eggman asked.

"I don't know about any empire, but I do know that if you hadn't started this whole mess, Crash wouldn't be trapped in the Negative Zone right now!" Dash roared. "I see the new recruit has learned from knucklehead here, his temper certainly flares almost as hot." Eggman said. "Hey! I resent that!" Knuckles growled. "No matter, I think I've waited long enough, Zero, destroy the pests!" Eggman ordered. "Gladly." Zero cracked his knuckles as he prepared to attack, while the crew of heroes got into battle-ready stance. "Get ready gang, if we can wear him down, his power will start to ebb and that'll be our chance!" Sonic exclaimed.

So while the two opposing sides clashed, Amy Rose was busy being bored out of her mind. "Sonic made me stay behind and watch this stupid rock…I think he was just trying to get rid of me." Amy sighed sadly. "I dunno, he seemed pretty concerned if you ask me." Ashley replied. "Look who's talking, you're the one who didn't even notice Dash's feelings were hurt by you being all over Shadow." Amy said. "I know…I guess I was just more worried about Shadow looking good than his feelings…how could I have been so insensitive?" Ashley sighed.

"What is it you like about him anyway? Shadow doesn't seem like the type to get attached anyway." Amy said. "Well…I think he's…wait a second, YOU tell ME why YOU like Sonic first and THEN we'll talk!" Ashley exclaimed. "Sounds like you're dodging the question." Amy said in a sing-song voice, getting up and turning her back to the older girl. "I'm not avoiding it! I know exactly what's so appealing about Shadow!" Ashley exclaimed defiantly. "Name one." Amy replied. "Well he's…dark, handsome, and obviously strong! And he's…well he's…" Ashley was cut off by the pink hedgehog.

"So is that all? He's good looking? Maybe you need to rethink your crush on him." Amy said, finally turning back to face the purple hedgehog. "Oh yeah? Well Sonic doesn't seem that much better!" Ashley tried to counter. But Amy was ready for that comment, and she jumped on it like a football player going for a fumbled ball. "I know EXACTLY why I love Sonic, he's brave and heroic, and he doesn't mind risking his life for people he cares about, or even total strangers! He really is sweet when he's not running away, and he makes every little moment of my life feel like something GIGANTIC! And that's not even mentioning his looks." she replied.

"Sounds like you chose quite a guy." Ashley said. "Yeah." Amy sighed. Just then a beeping came over Tails' computer. "What's up Tails?" Amy asked. "Must be someone checking in." Tails replied. Tails pressed a pattern of keys and sure enough someone's face appeared on the screen. "Finally figured out the communicator you gave me." Houdini chuckled. "So what's up?" Tails asked. "Well I wanted to confirm the coordinates is all." Houdini said. "Well according to the data I have, you're at the same spot that I lost contact with Shadow and the others." Tails explained.

"Perfect…so…what do I do now?" Houdini asked. "Use the emerald's power to open the portal, try holding it out." Tails replied. Houdini nodded and pulled out the Sol Emerald he had been given. Within seconds, the emerald began glowing, and the portal to the darkness of the Negative Zone opened right before his eyes. "Looks like that did it." Houdini said. "Perfect, alright, good luck Houdini, and be careful." Tails said. Houdini nodded and hung up, and the marsupial cautiously entered the strange world, not knowing what would lie ahead. "Well that should make Dash happy." Tails glanced up at Amy who still seemed somewhat disappointed about staying. "He really was worried about you you know." Tails got up to check on Cream who had gone back to bed after the group ran off, leaving Amy to think.

Tails slowly opened the door to the bedroom and saw Cream sitting up in bed. "Hi Tails." she said. "Hey, how come you're awake?" Tails asked as he walked in and sat himself on the foot of the bed. "I'm just a little scared, there's so much going on all at once!" Cream replied. "Hey, no worries, we've got Sonic on our side right?" Tails replied. "I know Tails, but Mr. Sonic can't do EVERYTHING, he needs help, I wish I could help him." Cream sighed. "I know how you feel. Most of the time I feel pretty useless since I'm not that great of a fighter." Tails replied.

"But YOU'RE very useful Tails, you're really smart and Mr. Sonic depends on that all the time! Like when you built the Blue Typhoon so we could go and fight the Metarex, or when you saved Station Square from being blown up by Dr. Eggman's missile! You're really amazing!" Cream said. "Well, I guess I'm not totally useless." Tails replied bashfully. But just then, the two kids heard an explosion in the workshop area, and the shrieking of Amy and Ashley and the loud beeping noises of Gemerl followed. "What's happening?" Cream asked worriedly. "Get back here!" they heard Ashley cry. "Come on Cream!" Tails grabbed the young rabbit's hand, and together they rushed into the workshop to find things scattered and ruined, Ashley trying to force herself to her feet, and Gemerl on the ground crackling violently.  
"What happened?" Cream asked herself. "The Master Emerald's still here…wait…where's Amy?" Tails exclaimed. "A blue robot! It came and took Amy!" Ashley replied. "A blue…Metal Sonic!" Tails hurried to his computer and tried to contact Sonic. "Come on Sonic, you just gotta answer!" Tails begged.

Meanwhile back in Station Square, Sonic, Knuckles, Blaze and Dash were busy trying to take the super form that Zero had inherited from stealing Sonic's body. "Alright Knux, Revolver Slam time!" Sonic and Knuckles charged forward towards the golden being, with Sonic rolling into a ball and charging a spin dash and Knuckles being propelled forward like a pitching machine. Zero took the hit with some difficulty, but the previous battles had left him weaker than usual. "Looks like you're not as strong as you thought you were!" Sonic yelled.

"Perhaps not, but the power your super form grants me will be more than sufficient to get you all out of my way." Zero replied. Just then, Sonic's communicator started beeping, and Tails' panicked voice came over it. "Sonic! Sonic!" Sonic answered the videophone and looked at the distressed fox who looked on the verge of a heart attack. "Tails, what's the matter?" he asked worriedly. "Sonic, you gotta get back here right away! Amy is…" Sonic was suddenly greeted by the never friendly sound of static, and Tails' face had been replaced by a no signal image. "Tails? What about Amy? Tails!" Sonic turned off his communicator and clenched his fists tightly. "Alright Eggman, what did you do to Amy?" he barked furiously.

"Well it would seem our mission here is accomplished Zero." Eggman said. "What mission?" Sonic asked. "Let's just say that me and my future mate will be coming here every now and again for this special event." Zero threw a nearby monitor at the heroes, and Dash caught and glowered at the monster, "Until we clash again, Sonic the Hedgehog." Zero held out a Chaos Emerald, and with the power of Chaos Control, he warped himself and Eggman into the unknown. "What did he mean future mate?" Blaze asked. Dash turned on the monitor and read the message that was barely readable thanks to the damage that the monitor had sustained. "It says…cute couples get in free." he read. "Hey Sonic, when are you gonna…Sonic?" Knuckles looked around and noticed that Sonic had disappeared. "Where'd he go?" he asked.

Sonic had turned and blasted towards Tails' workshop at speeds he had never reached before, the moment he heard the word "couple" he took off, cursing himself for falling for Eggman's trick. "I can't believe this! How could I have been such a bonehead? Eggman was just distracting us so he could capture Amy! I should've taken her with me!" Sonic reached the workshop and saw Tails kneeling down trying to do more repair on Gemerl, who had apparently taken another beating. "Tails!" he shouted. "Sonic, you're here!" Tails jumped up from his work and confronted Sonic, who was obviously very distressed at the situation. "Tails…what…where's Amy?" he asked. Tails frowned and drooped his head and ears in shame. "I'm sorry Sonic, Ashley says that Metal Sonic came and took her, and he did all this while she and Gemerl fought to stop him." Tails explained sadly.

Sonic clenched his fists and growled before relaxing slightly and sighing, "Tails…do you know where she is?" he asked as calmly as he could. "No idea Sonic, Eggman didn't leave any clues." Tails replied. "Mr. Sonic, why would Eggman capture Amy?" Cream asked. Sonic and Tails exchanged glances and both decided the same thing instantly. "We don't know Cream. Hey, can you keep an eye on my computer? Let me know if something happens ok?" Tails replied. "Can you fix Gemerl, Tails?" Cream asked. "I'll do my best Cream, I promise." Tails replied.

Cream smiled and skipped over to the computer, while Ashley walked over to the two males. "I saw that look you two gave each other, what's the matter?" Ashley asked. Tails whispered the problem into the girl's ear, and her eyes widened with disgust when she heard it. "That's despicable, nothing short of despicable." she spat. "I'm going out to look for her!" Sonic exclaimed. But before Sonic could run off, Cream started shouting, "Tails! Mr. Sonic! Ashley! Come quick!"

The trio ran towards the computer and saw the screen blinking. Tails motioned for Cream to move off the chair so he could do his thing, "What's happening Tails?" Cream asked. "It's an incoming message!" Tails replied. With one last button pressed, the message came on, and the entire group tensed when they saw who the message was from.

"Hello Sonic, as you're already probably aware of, I've captured that pink brat that you seem so fond of, and I happen to know that you're also aware of why Zero was so intent of having her. However I will offer you one alternative other than her being used for what even I personally feel is too cruel a fate for a young girl. If you surrender yourself to me at the Egg Shelter in exactly one hour, I shall release her in exchange for your life. Come alone, because if I see you with someone else, you will watch her die in searing pain. Don't be late, that is, if you REALLY care for her." the transmission ended and the computer screen went blank, and all eyes fell on Sonic, whose fists were once again clenched in rage towards the doctor and his monster. "Sonic, we'll come up with a plan to save her, let's wait for Knuckles, Blaze, and Dash to come back first." Tails said calmly.

"I already have a plan…I'm going to the Mystic Ruins to rescue Amy!" Sonic took off running before Tails could convince him otherwise with logic, it was a long run back to Station Square, and then to the Egg Shelter, but he didn't care, the only thing on his mind was getting there to save Amy before Zero would have the chance to even lay a hand on her.

"Boy…if I knew that the Sol Emerald would get really cold in here, I would've thought twice about taking it." Houdini said to himself, as the cold the emerald was now exerting was starting to bother him. But he still had a mission as he leaped through the barren trees of the Negative Zone. After a while, he came across a small shelter built out of old wood, but when he peeked through the window he couldn't believe what he saw. There were computers and chemicals of all kinds, and then he saw a hedgehog in a capsule, hooked up to wires that seemed to be analyzing his genetic structure, and Khanali was analyzing the data that was coming in. "Looks like they weren't kidding about him being wacko." Houdini's ears perked up suddenly, and the glider hopped behind the cabin to avoid whatever was coming.

"That looks like Khanali's monster." Houdini thought. The creature floated into the cabin and over to Khanali, who merely nodded and walked outside with the monster. "One day we must train you to look for food on your own." Together Khanali and the monster went off into the distance. "Now's my chance!" Houdini snuck into the cabin and looked around cautiously in case Khanali had some sort of security system. After confirming that there was nothing out of the ordinary, besides what he had already seen so far that is, he walked over to the capsule. "You sure look different Crash." Houdini looked around for the release button, and eventually found it next to the capsule. He pressed it and the capsule opened up and the wires flew off of the now brown hedgehog's body. Crash fell limp in the capsule upon release.

"Crash, come on Crash, wake up, we gotta go!" Houdini whispered. The brown hedgehog blinked a few times before finally getting his vision into focus. "Ohh…what happened? I was holding the Sol Emeralds when all of a sudden I…" Crash noticed his skin wasn't the right color, and both he and Houdini could feel a scream building in his throat. "Don't freak out here! You wanna scream, do it once we're back in friendly territory! But for now, let's go, and quietly!" Houdini exclaimed quietly. But before they could get going, Houdini heard Khanali returning with his monster. "Shoot! Alright, hold this, and hang on to me!" Houdini handed Crash the Sol Emerald and placed him on his back, and the glider used his climbing skills and clambered up and out the chimney.

"What's it like to replace Santa Claus?" Crash joked. "Quiet! We're trying to be sneaky here! And if you drop that emerald, I will give you a hard karate chop to the throat, so hold onto it TIGHTLY." Houdini whispered. Just as he climbed out the chimney, he heard Khanali yelling with rage. "We're out of time! Come on, let's go! And gimme the emerald!" Houdini snatched the emerald from Crash and cringed at the cold it exerted, but he managed to suck it up and hop off the roof away from the window with Crash. "Alright, let's run!" The two hurried away from the cabin, but it wasn't long before they heard a loud shriek. "That's Khanali's pet thing!" Crash yelled, looking behind him. "Don't stop running! We're almost to the portal!" Houdini yelled.

They could see the monster firing blasts of ice at them, which they dodged with jumps and rolls. "Oh man, one of those hits me and I'm toast!" Houdini exclaimed to himself. Finally they were almost to the portal, and Houdini held out the emerald in front of him as he ran. "Alright emerald, open that portal!" the emerald glowed and almost froze Houdini's arm solid, which made the glider roar in agony, but again he ignored his pain and forced himself to dive through the portal with Crash, and quickly close it behind him using the now warm emerald. "Oh…that's warm…what a relief." Houdini sighed. "So…are we in friendly territory now?" Crash asked. "Yeah Crash, we're home free." Houdini shivered as he felt the emerald warming his half-frozen body.

"AAAAAAHHHH! WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?"  
_

**A/N: So yeah, new Crash design. It's just to make his owner happy. Don't worry though, it isn't for nothing, it'll all connect soon.**


	12. Dark Rampage

**Hey guys! What's this? Two chapters in one day? Well I did a lot of work on this thing, since Summer's coming up I'll hopefully have more time to write BOTH stories. As soon as I finish the chapter with our surprise villain in it, I'll be able to go back and put myself to work on the next Pokemon episode. Lemme just say this though, Sonamy fans if you're still reading this, you will LOVE this chapter, it's the first of two big Sonamy moments and I guarentee you'll like it. And so without further ado, I give you the next chapter! I own nothing except the story and Houdini the Sugar Glider.  
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"Sonic! Come in Sonic! SONIC!" Tails has been trying to get Sonic to answer his communicator ever since he had taken off running to save Amy. "It's no good, he's not answering." Tails sighed. "So what'll we do Tails?" Cream asked. "I guess…all we can really do is hope that Sonic pulls off another miracle." Tails replied. "I can't help but feel like I'm responsible for all this." Ashley said sadly. "It's not your fault, how would you know Eggman would do something like this?" Tails asked as he went back to repairing the badly damaged gizoid.

"But I AM the reason Dash and Shadow got into a fight, and Shadow left because of that, if Shadow hadn't left we would've had one more person to fight that robot." Ashley said. "Please don't be sad Ms. Ashley; it's not your fault. You tried to help after all." Cream replied. Just then, Knuckles, Blaze, and Dash walked in, looking around in shock. "What happened here?" Dash asked. "A robot…I mean, Metal Sonic came here and attacked us." Ashley replied. "Are you alright?" he asked. "I'm ok…thanks for asking Dasher." Ashley replied.

"He didn't get the Master Emerald did he?" Knuckles rushed over to where the emerald was and was realized to see that it was unharmed; he also noticed that the force field that it had been covered in back on Angel Island was back as well. "Must be Tikal again." he figured. Almost as if she heard his voice, the field lowered and allowed Knuckles to touch the gem once more. "Where's Sonic?" Blaze asked. "He went to rescue Amy." Ashley replied. "Rescue? What happened to her?" Knuckles asked. "Eggman had her captured so Zero could…(shudder) never mind what Zero needs for her…the point is Eggman sent us a transmission saying if Sonic surrendered to him, he'd set Amy free." Tails replied.

"Why would Sonic trust him? He's nothing more than a treacherous snake!" Blaze hissed. "Because he'd rather see Amy safe than worry about his own safety…Amy told me why she loved Sonic so much, all Sonic did was confirm that he was all she described and more." Ashley replied.  
"So…Sonic…loves Amy?" Blaze asked. "Maybe, or he could just be saving her because she's a friend." Ashley replied. "He loves her." Knuckles snickered. "Don't start Knuckles." Tails grumbled. "So shouldn't we go and help him?" Blaze asked. "No! Eggman made it clear that if Sonic doesn't come alone, Amy would die, so that's just what he did." Tails replied. "So what you're basically saying is we're helpless to stop Sonic from dying." Knuckles said. "He won't die! I'm sure he'll be ok, and so will Amy." Tails replied hotly.

An awkward silence fell over the group, when suddenly another alarm went off in the workshop. "Now what?" Knuckles growled. "Proximity alert! On your guard everyone!" Tails shouted. The small rabbit next to him hid behind Tails in fear, and Tails held out his arm protectively. The door burst open and a brown hedgehog ran and tackled Dash to the ground. "Help me cure me fix me save me!"  
"Crash! Dude you're ok!" Dash exclaimed happily. "OK? Do I LOOK ok to you? I'm brown! Maybe you went color blind in the time it took for me to wake up, but I'm not supposed to be brown Dasher!" Crash shouted at the top of his lungs. "Ok one, get off me!" Dash tossed his buddy off of him and dusted himself off, "And two, aren't you glad you're ALIVE?" Dash asked. "I'd be happier if I was me!" Crash replied. Crash then turned towards Tails who had gotten his mind back to his work after the momentary distraction.

Crash hurried to the young fox and picked him up and shook him violently. "You! You're a super genius! Can you make me normal again?" Crash begged.  
"I'll do my best!" Tails replied as Crash continued to shake him. Crash smiled and dropped the dizzy fox on the floor. "Well, I feel better already." he said. "Wait, where's Houdini?" Blaze asked. As if on cue, Houdini came in gasping for breath. "Next time give a guy a little warning will ya?" he said breathlessly.

"Houdini! Are you alright?" Blaze asked. "Yeah I'm fine…but that emerald of yours nearly froze me to death in the Negative Zone…oh yeah, here you go." Houdini handed the emerald back to the cat, who was sincerely touched by the fact that Houdini had taken such good care of her treasure. And she also felt something…that she hadn't very often.

"You've proven yourself an honorable man, Houdini the Sugar Glider." Blaze said. "Thank you Milady, I am honored." Houdini replied, "Hey, what happened here?" he asked. "I'm afraid Amy has been captured by the doctor, Sonic's gone after her." Blaze replied.

"Well why are we just standing here? Shouldn't we go and help him?" Houdini asked. "Unfortunately the doctor insisted he go alone, if he had brought any of us with him, Amy's death would be guaranteed." Blaze replied.

"So…we're helpless." Houdini sighed. "We're helpless to help Sonic, but not to plan our counterattack. The more I think about it, the more I'm sure that Zero's fossil is his real source of life energy. If we destroy the fossil, we destroy Zero." Tails replied. "Well then let's tell Sonic!" Dash exclaimed. "I tried contacting him already, he's not answering his communicator, all we can do is wait." Tails sighed.

"This is it." Sonic was now standing in front of the Egg Shelter, which seemed even less inviting now that he had to try and save Amy from a fate that would be worse than death. "Here's hoping I can get in and out without Eggman catching me." Sonic snuck into the shelter, just hoping that he wasn't too late to save Amy.

"It truly is a shame your reproductive glands and organs are not yet mature…perhaps the doctor has a device for such an occasion." Zero said sinisterly as he hovered over the young hedgehog trapped in a pod. "If he does then I know that he isn't just crazy, he's a pervert too!" Amy spat furiously.

"I assure you my dear girl, I have no such machinery, nor do I have any interest in building any." Eggman said as he analyzed his latest diabolical invention. "Doctor you promised me that your plan would work for both of us, you promised me a female and you have yet to lift a finger to get me one that would be useful!" Zero growled.

"Are you not the one who said that you'd be willing to wait for her to mature?" Eggman asked. "That was before you gave me the analysis report! I know nothing of the biology of this species! How was I to know that she wouldn't mature as fast as my race? Years on my planet last three of your months!" Zero roared angrily.

"Patience Zero, I promised you a female and you shall indeed have one. But as long as Sonic is alive we'll never have the chance to go through with either of our plans. As long as we have her captive, Sonic is at our mercy." Eggman explained.

"I don't understand the illogic of the species…why does any one specific being have any significance to another?" Zero asked. "It's called heart, Zero. I actually ALMOST feel sorry for you." Amy replied, finally speaking up.

Just then, Metal Sonic rushed in. "What is it Metal Sonic?" Eggman asked his robot. Metal Sonic slammed his fist into his metallic claw, which answered Eggman's question. "So Sonic is here is he? Zero, why don't you give him a not so warm welcome?" Eggman chortled. Zero nodded and started to float off, but before leaving he turned to face the doctor again, "Remember our agreement Doctor; I destroy your nemesis, and then my reward."

"Come on Amy, where are you?" Sonic was starting to get a little edgy since he had yet to find Amy in the shelter, and what was worse, he couldn't shake the feeling that Eggman knew he was here. "Greetings my body donor." A voice said evilly.

Sonic stopped in his tracks and felt the spines on his back start to stand up in defense. "Zero…show yourself!" Sonic shouted. "What a pitiful sight, why are you risking your life to rescue this female? Why not just find another one?" Zero asked, remaining out of sight. "Why don't YOU find another one? And give Amy back!" Sonic replied.

"I intend to find another female…" Zero appeared behind Sonic, which startled the blue hedgehog and got him to get battle-ready. "As for releasing your friend…" Zero charged a blast of energy and fired it at Sonic, who just didn't have enough speed to dodge the attack of his super form at point blank range. When he woke up, he blinked a few times before getting used to his surroundings. "Sonic! You're ok!" Sonic looked to where the voice had come from and saw Amy trapped inside a capsule, beaming with joy that he was alive. "Amy! Don't worry Ames; I'll get us out of this!" Sonic tried to move, but found himself securely strapped to a table. "I see that you've finally come to Sonic. Excellent, now we can begin." Eggman said, coming from another room.

"Eggman this is a new low, what do you have planned this time?" Sonic growled. "I believe we had an agreement Sonic, did we not?" Eggman asked. "The only agreement we ever made was that you would keep trying to start up your empire and I would keep stopping you!" Sonic replied. Eggman ignored the snide remark and continued, "The agreement was that you would come here and surrender yourself to me, and also come alone." Eggman said. "And I did, you see Tails or anyone else around here?" Sonic asked.

"You have a choice Sonic…you can either surrender yourself to me for whatever purpose I deem worthy…or you can watch this pink brat suffer at the hands of my latest diabolical invention." Eggman pressed a button on a computer console, and the capsule that Amy was trapped in transformed into a vicious looking machine, powered by none other than the mighty Chaos Emeralds. "I call it…the Chaos Agonizer."

"What's that supposed to do? Put on a light show?" Sonic scoffed. "In a way you're right. This device that I've so brilliantly created uses the power of the Chaos Emeralds to emit painful waves of chaos energy at the victim…which in this case, would be your girlfriend here." Eggman chortled.

"You're bluffing." Sonic turned his head away from Eggman and refused to meet his gaze. "Am I?" Eggman activated the machine, and the emeralds on top began glowing brightly, and colorful waves of energy began bombarding the capsule Amy was trapped in, and she suddenly gave a pain induced shriek, which very quickly got Sonic's attention. "Amy!" Sonic struggled to break free of the restraints, but they were simply too strong for him. "You see Sonic, this magnificent device allows for the pain to be continued indefinitely since there is no actual destruction of tissue, she is in no danger of dying…at least not on this lowest setting…" Eggman said.

"Stop it! Leave her alone!" Sonic roared furiously. "I can't stop now; you have not yet seen the full potential of my invention." Eggman turned up the setting on the machine, and the waves of energy began bombarding the poor girl even harder. "NO!" Amy's cries were piercing Sonic's heart like knives, how could Eggman do something so cruel to her? How DARE he harm her for no reason? Sonic could feel his temper rising, his rage fueling his adrenaline…or was it something more? "Eggman…" Eggman turned around from watching Amy suffer to face Sonic, and saw his fur had grown darker. "You're…gonna pay for this!" All of a sudden Sonic burst free of the restraints like they were made of mere foam, and barreled over the doctor on his way to the capsule.

Sonic shattered the capsule and covered the crying Amy from the glass with his now black body, his pupils had vanished as his anger had appeared, only once had he ever reached this level of anger and rage, when Chris Thorndyke and Cosmo were captured by the Metarex…the emerald's power had reached him, feeding off his negative feelings towards Eggman, he had transformed into Dark Super Sonic. "Zero! Metal Sonic! On the double!" Eggman shouted nervously. Within seconds, both the super powered creature and the Sonic-based robot were at Eggman's side awaiting orders. "Destroy them both!" Eggman ordered.

Sonic didn't like that, he was STILL going to try and kill Amy? They would have to bury his dead corpse before they would even get a CHANCE to touch Amy again; he swore that to himself right then and there. Sonic scooped Amy up bridal-style and blasted through the roof, putting her down a safe distance away from the Egg Shelter. He took a moment to place his hands on her shoulders, and saw her tears from the painful experience…they nearly broke his heart to see her so hurt, so devastated by what she had been put through, and on HIS account. Eggman would pay…DEARLY. "Stay here Amy…this isn't gonna be pretty!" Sonic charged back towards the shelter to fight his two adversaries. Amy couldn't believe what she had just seen, Sonic had rescued her like he had always done…but she had never seen him get so angry before on her life…sure he had his temper tantrums every once in a while, but this was completely different, this wasn't just a tantrum, this was unbridled, unadulterated rage and fury, because Eggman had dared to lay a hand on her.

She had stopped crying since the pain had subsided; apparently it only hurt her when the machine was directed at her. Was this why Sonic was so insistent on her staying in Tails' Workshop? Tails himself had told her that he was sincerely worried…  
She suddenly felt awful for putting up such a fight…how many times had she worried him by thrusting herself into danger on his account? Then again…how many times had he had been kept alive BECAUSE she interfered? Amy decided that it was time she interfered again…she could tell something was seriously wrong with Sonic, and she would make sure to help him in any way she could.

"C'mere you pile of scrap!" It was only a split-second that Sonic had arrived back in the shelter, that Metal Sonic had been pulverized to weakly crackling pieces of metal, you couldn't even tell a robot had once been there. "You're next!" Sonic growled, his voice dripping with anger and hatred towards the monster. Zero 3 charged forward with a hard kick to the dark hedgehog's gut, and sent him flying through the roof. Zero burst through the roof as well to join Sonic in the air. Sonic snickered darkly and glared coldly at the super powered monster, "Alright Zero, time for me to finish this!" Sonic shoulder-charged Zero in the gut and knocked him down to the ground, then he followed through with a barrage of light speed dark jabs from all directions.

"What power has possessed you?" Zero 3 growled. Zero charged to try and counterattack, but Sonic's dark powers were simply too much to catch up to. Sonic's heart had been plunged into dark feelings, rage, hatred, anger, he had lost control of what he was doing or thinking. He only had one thing on his mind, that was to destroy Zero, obliterate him into nothingness, beat him down until there was nothing left of him, ascertain vengeance for Amy who had been cruelly tortured because of Zero and Eggman. After a long drawn out battle, Zero's super power had ebbed down to virtually nothing, leaving him in a normal form of Sonic's body, and even then Sonic didn't let up. Sonic grabbed Zero by the throat and tossed him into the air, "Go to the devil you bastard!" Dark Super Sonic, will all his rage and fury fueled adrenaline, fired a pitch black energy blast at Zero and sent him back down to the ruined Egg Shelter, where Eggman had been fearfully watching the whole thing.

The blast had disintegrated the Sonic body that Zero had stolen, and left him in his normal Iosian form. Sonic landed and clenched his fists tightly, the dark energy Sonic was emitting made Eggman shiver with sheer terror, he couldn't even make a reaction to try and save his skin, he was completely at Sonic's mercy at this point, the plan he came up with had backfired horrifically. Sonic walked over to where Zero's shell was safely sitting in a glass case with an electric field surrounding it. Sonic punched through the glass, not even feeling the shock of the electricity. He held the shell tightly, which made Zero become very worried. Zero looked back towards the doctor for help, but all he saw was a cowering Eggman.

Sonic threw the shell to the ground and punched it with all his might, and after a few moments, Zero screeched in his alien language as his body slowly began to ebb away, and after a few more moments, Zero was gone. By this time, Amy had made it back to the shelter, and had seen Sonic destroy Zero completely. Now she watched in horror as Sonic slowly stomped towards Eggman, who was now whimpering in terror, "C-C-Come now Sonic…let's be reasonable about this!"

"I am…I reason that you don't deserve to live." Sonic grabbed Eggman by the collar and dragged him down to his level, forcing the doctor to humble himself by dropping on his knees in front of the darkness possessed hedgehog. "What are you going to do?" Eggman asked fearfully. Sonic looked behind Eggman and saw his machine…the machine he had used on Amy…Sonic smirked maliciously and chuckled. "I think I'll stick you in your machine…see how YOU like being tortured…THEN I'll finish you off!"

"No! Please!" Eggman cried. Sonic was about to throw Eggman into the machine, when he heard an all too familiar voice crying out to him. "Sonic, no!" Sonic turned around and saw Amy standing in a hole in the wall, what was that look on her face…fear? "Amy…this power! I can finish this endless war here and now! And all I have to do is…send this bastard to the same place I sent Zero, FOREVER!" Sonic said. "No Sonic! It isn't worth it!" Amy cried.

"Not worth it? He nearly killed you! I think it's only fair I return the favor!" Sonic growled. "Well 'almost' does mean you should ALMOST kill me, but not finish the job." Eggman whimpered. "Shut up!" Sonic barked. Amy ran up to Sonic and placed her hand on his shoulder, which made his eyes widen and turn his head towards her face, her tearstained face. "Please Sonic…what he did was wrong, but don't stoop to his level…you're different than he is! I don't know what's happened to you but…I know that deep down you don't REALLY wanna do this, please just calm down, don't let this…dark form control you, you're still Sonic…don't worry about Sonic the Superhero saving the world from evil, ask yourself what Sonic the Hedgehog would do!" Amy begged.

Sonic stared at the jade-green eyes that were begging him to calm down, the hand on his shoulder trying to soothe his soul…Sonic the Superhero would probably finish the job and make sure evil was wiped out once and for all…but Sonic the Hedgehog wouldn't kill for any reason, robots were one thing, Zero was different, but this…what was he doing? Sonic looked at the quivering scientist he still had a tight grip on, and then back at Amy, who had appealed to the real him, not Sonic the kick butt, world saving superhero, but she had gone past that, and had gone to beg Sonic the fun loving, cool and cocky Hedgehog.

"What am I doing?" Sonic let Eggman drop to the ground and looked at his hands in fear, what had he become? What was this evil that had taken control of him? Then he felt a soft pair of arms wrap around his midsection…gently embracing him, comforting him…he looked behind to see the pink hedgehog very tenderly trying to soothe him…one thing was for sure…Sonic was touched. Most people would just leave Sonic to sort out his own troubles and worries, he'd sleep up on a roof somewhere and just sleep everything off…how many times he'd woken up from an occasional nightmare with nothing but the darkness of night to comfort his hedgehog heart…but Amy…Amy took the time out of her life to try and be a source of comfort, just like she was now, he was amazed that she didn't think any less of him even while he was in this dark and vicious form. Maybe to her…it didn't matter what he looked like or what he did…he was still Sonic.

His fur slowly changed from the blackish hue it had taken on to the usual, majestic cobalt that he was so familiar with, he felt his anger melt away as Amy continued to hold him softly, maybe…just maybe, he could learn to like hugs…as long as they weren't her usual bone crushing death hugs like she usually did. When he became completely normal, Amy released him and smiled at him sweetly, and he smiled back gratefully. "Thanks Ames, I really needed that."

"Anytime Sonic, you just say the word and I'll be there to help, for whatever you need." Amy replied. Then Sonic turned towards Eggman who apparently had been trying to crawl away while Amy was soothing him. "Eggman!" Sonic rushed in front of the doctor and glared at him, "You're lucky Amy was here to cool me off Eggman, or I might've done something I would've regretted doing, and I bet you wouldn't've been a huge fan of it either." Sonic said, "But I'm gonna leave you here in this busted up shelter and think about what you did…and I'll make this brief…if you EVER try to lay a finger on her EVER again, I won't hold back next time, you WILL pay dearly…are we clear on this?"

"We're clear! We're clear! Thank you for showing mercy Sonic, I won't forget!" Eggman exclaimed with relief. "Don't thank me; thank her, because without her you'd be pushing up daisies." Sonic walked over to Eggman's machine and hit the release button, which made the emeralds drop to the ground. Sonic picked them up and put them away in his own personal hammerspace, and smirked at the doctor again, "Seeya around Doc, lemme know when ya wanna rumble again, I'll be waiting."

"And so will I!" Amy added. Sonic chuckled and scooped Amy up bridal-style, and began the long run towards Tails' Workshop. "Thanks for saving me again Sonic." Amy said as she made herself comfy in his embrace. "I wanna thank you Ames, for being there for me when I needed it most, I really appreciate it." Sonic replied. "Appreciate it enough to take me on a date?" Amy asked sweetly. "Eh, we'll see Amy, we'll see." Sonic chuckled. "Well, it's a start." Amy sighed. Exhausted from the whole ordeal, Amy began to doze off in Sonic's arms, which made Sonic smile as the young girl rested easily in his strong arms. "Sweet dreams Amy, and thanks."

"That's right Sonic, relax and enjoy while you can...because as soon as I find a way to use this...you will ALL pay for this humiliation! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"  
_

**A/N: If any of you out there are reading this story for the second time, you'll remember in the first version of this story, exactly what it is Eggman is referring to so please keep it quiet. As for the new readers, you'll just have to wait and see, but I'm positive you'll like it!**


	13. Rebirth of an Old Enemy

**Hey everyone, it's time for another update of the Dash Adventure. And also, you'll notice a new character that you new readers will be totally surprised with! And for those of you who remember reading this once already, thanks for sticking with me (albeit quietly). So without further ado, the next chapter! I own nothing except the story and Houdini the Sugar Glider.**  
**_**

Sonic arrived in front of Tails' Workshop and gently shook Amy awake. With a yawn and a stretch, Amy put her feet on the ground and stood up straight, making sure to lean in and give Sonic a quick peck on the cheek before heading into the workshop. Sonic could hear the cheers of everyone inside when Amy walked in, but he stayed back a moment to regain his composure after she had kissed him. After he was sure he wouldn't get a long, drawn out heckling from Knuckles, he walked in and joined the group. "Sonic! You did it!" Tails cheered. "C'mon, was there ever REALLY any doubt?" Sonic snickered.

"I guess not." Tails laughed. "So what happened Sonic? Did you just rescue her and hightail it out of there or did you do a little damage?" Knuckles asked. "Well…let's just say the battle's over." Sonic replied. "What? You didn't leave anything for me?" Knuckles roared. "Sorry knucklehead, you'll just have to go back to petting your rock." Sonic snickered. "Why you…I oughta…" Knuckles was cut off by Tails. "Wait a second, you mean Zero's gone? How'd you do it?" Tails asked. "Well, you were right about Zero's fossil, when I destroyed it, he disappeared." Sonic explained.

"I remember you thought he was a ghost at first." Amy laughed. "Hey! It's not like my scanner could get as in-depth as my computer, we never saw anything like Zero before." Tails defended. "No worries Tails, without you we wouldn't've had a clue what to do about Zero." Sonic said. "Well…I guess." Tails replied bashfully. "Well now that that's over with…can someone PLEASE make me normal again?" Crash begged. "Well…there is one thing I can try." Tails said. "Anything!" Crash shouted. "I can hook you up to some wires and I can try and shock the germs Ashley told me about." Tails replied. "Fine! But…it won't hurt right?" Crash asked. "It shouldn't." Tails replied.

"Here Tails, see if you can use these." Sonic handed Tails seven emeralds, but the fox boy noticed something was wrong. "Sonic…one of these isn't a Chaos Emerald." Tails said. "You're right! It's the last Sol Emerald!" Blaze grabbed it from Tails' arms and let the seven Sol Emeralds float around her body. "At last I have them all! My mission is complete." Blaze reveled in the energy the emeralds gave her. "So…I guess you'll be heading back to your dimension now?" Houdini asked. "Yes I suppose so." Blaze replied. "Well lemme tell ya Blaze, it was great having you on our team again, don't be a stranger ok?" Sonic held out his hand for Blaze to shake it, and the purple cat accepted the gesture gladly…but why was that feeling she felt earlier not there anymore?

"I'm going to miss you so much Blaze." Cream walked up and hugged the cat, and Blaze reciprocated the gesture by gently wrapping her arms around the young girl. "I'll miss you too Cream, you behave yourself ok?" Blaze said. "I will! I promise!" Cream replied. Then it was Houdini's turn, the Sugar Glider had taken a liking to her from the get-go, and perhaps Blaze had taken a liking to him as well. Houdini had acted like a gentleman towards her ever since he had rescued her from Zero; he had taken great care of the Sol Emerald she had lent him. "Well, I guess this is goodbye." Houdini said. "It doesn't have to be. Let's just say, until we meet again." Blaze then felt her muscles moving almost involuntarily, and she wrapped her arms around the glider, who was pleasantly shocked by Blaze's affectionate gesture.

Houdini happily reciprocated and felt her natural warmth absorb into his body. "I'm gonna miss you Blaze, I'm glad I met you." Houdini said. "The feeling is mutual." Blaze replied. Before Blaze could walk outside, an explosion took place inside the workshop. "What was that?" Knuckles shouted. When the smoke cleared, Crash was covered in soot, and his eyes were wide with shock. Crash opened his mouth and gave a long drawn out cough before speaking. "You said it wouldn't hurt!" Crash yelled. "Hey…it didn't hurt me." Tails grinned. The entire group started laughing heartily; even Blaze gave a giggle at Crash's expense. "And on top of it all…I'm STILL brown!" Crash growled.

"Ahh relax Crash, I actually think it makes you look better than before." Ashley said. "Yeah, it makes you look…distinguished." Dash added. "Distinguished'? That's a fancy word for weird! I'm gonna…just go over here and sulk." Crash sighed. "I'm sorry, I tried." Tails said. "Ah don't worry about him, he'll get over it, he always does." Dash reassured. "Hey why are we just moping here? We just saved two worlds from whatever Eggman had in mind for them! This calls for a celebration! Whaddya say everyone? Who's up for a party?" Amy asked.

"I like the way you think Amy! Come on guys, let's have some fun!" Sonic ran out of the room and came back with a mat and a boom box. "I'll start!" Sonic turned on the boom box and started up the music, and started breakdancing while the others watched and cheered, even Crash was enjoying it. "Come on Cream, these guys will be hungry when they're done, let's see what we can do with the leftovers in Tails' fridge." Amy said. "Ok Amy, let's do it!" Cream replied.

So the party continued on with various people giving it their all on the dance floor…meanwhile, somewhere in Red Mountain…

"Perhaps getting this plan back up to speed won't be as easy as I thought. I have everything I need to get it underway…except the ability to use only negative energy from this Chaos Emerald." Eggman held out the shining gem and admired its beauty in the sun for a moment, but what he didn't know was that he was being watched by someone. "Hmm, this could be fun."

As Eggman hovered along in his craft, with what was left of Metal Sonic in the seat behind him, he stopped when a dark portal suddenly opened up. "Dr. Eggman I presume?" a voice said. "Who are you?" Eggman asked. The voice chuckled and simply ignored the question, "I couldn't help but notice that uh…you seem to have a predicament on your hands…perhaps I can help." the voice said. "I'd be more willing to negotiate if I knew who you were." Eggman replied. "Very well…" the voice walked out of the portal and revealed himself to Eggman. "Khanali is my name. Ruler of this world of opposites." Khanali said. Then it hit Eggman like a pile of bricks. "This is the Negative Zone!" he said. "Indeed. Now I think we can help each other Doctor, perhaps you can use my world to get the negative energy you want, and I can learn more about the gems you'll be getting it from." Khanali suggested.

"Perhaps…but on one condition…" Eggman said. "Oh of course, name your condition." Khanali replied. "I must have your complete and total cooperation in this endeavor to recreate the most powerful creature ever known!" Eggman exclaimed. "Oh but of course, I accept your terms…now, shall we step into my laboratory?" Khanali waved his hand towards the portal and allowed Eggman's craft to enter, and then Khanali followed with an evil smirk on his face. When they reached Khanali's lab, Eggman unloaded his hovercraft and dumped Metal Sonic's pieces on the table, "I must say Khanali, I'm impressed with the facilities you've managed to pull together under such adverse conditions." Eggman said.

"Thank you Doctor…may I ask what that is you just put on the table?" Khanali asked. "That is what's left of my robot, Metal Sonic. He was destroyed when Sonic attacked and foiled my latest scheme…but this time he shall not triumph…once I use the power that's held inside this special bracelet, and of course the remains of this fossil, no one shall get in the way of me building the Eggman Empire!" Eggman chortled. "If you don't mind Doctor, I'd like to do some work on this." Khanali said, referring to the scraps of Metal Sonic. "Be my guest, it will give me time to recalibrate this pod to be compatible with the Chaos Emerald." Eggman replied.

After about an hour or so, both workers had completed their projects. "Finally…now all that's left is to go through with it." Eggman sighed. Eggman turned around and was shocked by what he saw. Khanali had not only managed to put Metal Sonic back together, but he had upgraded the robot as well. "I'm impressed Khanali, very nice indeed." Eggman said, analyzing the robot. "I threw in some of my own special modifications of course, you'll find now that he's much stronger than before." Khanali replied. "What about the replicator inside the CPU?" Eggman asked. "Repaired Doctor, and that too has been improved." Khanali replied.

"Excellent…Metal Sonic, awaken!" Eggman shouted. Metal Sonic's eyes blinked on, and the robot jumped off of the table and stood in front of the two villains. "Awaiting command input." Metal Sonic said. "I see you've added a linguistics bank, very good." Eggman said. "Thank you Doctor." Khanali replied. "And now Khanali, watch in wonder as I recreate the creature that once almost destroyed Sonic without breaking a sweat!" Eggman placed a fragment of a fossil inside the machine, and activated the computer panel, and a high pitched hum sounded, and inside the capsule, a creature began to emerge inside it. "What is it Doctor?" Khanali asked. "An Iosian, the last of his kind, fortunately there was enough of a fragment left to revive him." Eggman replied.

When the process was complete, Eggman opened the capsule and Zero floated out, "Welcome back Zero, I hope you're ready for my next plan…with the body I'm about to create for you, Sonic will not stand a chance." Eggman walked up to the capsule and placed a golden bracelet inside and closed it up. Then he placed the Chaos Emerald inside a socket above the pod. "With the power of the Chaos Emerald, and of course with your world making sure that only the negative energy is used, I'll be able to recreate Sonic's greatest adversary." Eggman activated the machine once again, and the negative energy began building around the bracelet and began taking the form of a silver hedgehog. "Yes! It's working! Just as I planned it!" Eggman exclaimed.

When the body was finished materializing, Eggman opened the capsule and admired his creation. "A perfect replica…all that's missing is a consciousness. Zero, the time has come. Take your new form and take control of the power it possesses!" Eggman exclaimed. Zero floated over to the body and absorbed into it, and after a few moments, the body's eyes opened and flashed red before turning to normal. "Well Zero, how do you feel?" Eggman asked. "Do not call me by that foolish name, I am…Nazo!" Nazo roared.

"If that's what you wish, Nazo. And rest assured I haven't forgotten our agreement, you will still have the female you need to repopulate your species. But first, we must obliterate the one force that could possibly get in our way, and now with a mighty fighting force, Sonic will finally fall before me!" Eggman ranted, "And as for you Khanali, I have you to thank for allowing my plan to succeed."

"Not at all Doctor, it was quite a…learning experience for me." Khanali replied. "Doctor, when does the battle begin? I must get my revenge on Sonic and Shadow for destroying me." Nazo asked. "The battle begins now Nazo. Go on, go and show those pitiful heroes exactly what it is they'll be up against this time, and tell them that we'll be waiting on the Death Egg for them." Eggman chortled. "As you command." Nazo burst out of the laboratory and left the two villains to chortle to themselves. With Nazo brought back to life through Zero, it was certain that Sonic and his friends were in serious trouble.  
_

**A/N: There you have it folks! It's the return of Nazo! Special thanks to Chakra X for allowing me to use his character, and you'll never guess who'll be voicing Nazo in the movie...the one and only Omahdon! So as you can see, things are getting really awesome now! Stay tuned!**


	14. The Battle Continues

**Well here we go, the next chapter of the Dash Adventure, the longest one to date too. So without further ado, the next chapter! I own nothing except the story and Houdini the Sugar Glider.  
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"Hey Blaze, glad you decided to stay for the party." Houdini said. "I'm not really sure what I have to do here…what exactly is the point of having a party?" Blaze asked. "You've never…oh yeah…well, the point of a party is to just relax and have fun! Do what you enjoy most. Look, Sonic and the other guys are playing videogames, Amy and Cream are in the kitchen making snacks, and Ashley's…Ashley's polishing her amulet thing. Well the point is there's lots to do, just pick something!" Houdini explained.

"What are you doing?" Blaze asked. "Me? Well, after getting my can kicked by those robots, I figured I'd try and polish up my karate, I don't wanna get caught off guard like that ever again. I hate to think what Mr. Mitch would've said if he saw me fighting those robots." Houdini said shamefully. "You're being too hard on yourself, you fought well for someone with no powers, and more importantly, I saw you take the time to help Cream with that one Metal Sonic, that was very kind of you." Blaze replied.

"I do my best." Houdini shrugged. "If you'll permit me, I'd like to practice some martial arts with you." Blaze said. Houdini smiled at the purple cat, "It would be my honor. Hey Tails, is there any place Blaze and I can do a little workout?" Houdini asked. "Yeah, you can go to the back so you don't hurt anything!" Tails replied as he quickly pressed a button on his controller. "Thanks…I guess." Houdini sweat-dropped, "Well never mind, come on Blaze, I'll show you what Mr. Mitch taught me about martial arts." Houdini led the cat outside, which did not go unnoticed by a certain duo of females.

"I'm so glad Blaze is making friends with Houdini, he's such a nice person." Cream said as she handed Amy two pieces of bread. The two girls were busy making party snacks for everyone, but so far the only real party going on was that Tails had pulled out his Wii console and was busy making Sonic wish he hadn't chosen himself in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. "Seems to me that they may wind up being more than just friends." Amy replied. "You mean…like Tails and Cosmo used to be?" Cream asked. At the mention of their deceased friend, the two girls had a moment of silence. "Yeah, like that…" Amy said finally, "You know, I don't think Tails ever really got over her death…but I'm willing to bet that you've helped him a lot."

"How Amy?" Cream asked. "Well you probably remind him of Cosmo, you have a whole bunch of the qualities that made Cosmo who she was. You're sweet, caring, and you're cute as the dickens!" Amy giggled. "Amy!" Cream blushed a little at that. "Hey…you're blushing…(gasp) you like Tails don't you?" Amy asked suspiciously. "I think he's a very nice boy, I just don't think poor Tails should be lonely, it makes me sad when he's sad." Cream replied. "So go talk to him Cream!" Amy exclaimed. "Maybe later Amy, let's get these sandwiches to everyone!" Cream replied.

"If you insist." Amy giggled. The two girls walked over to the game console where Sonic and Tails were still facing off. "You're going down this time Tails!" Sonic laughed. "Oh yeah, wanna bet?" Tails replied. "Sure! I betcha five rings that I'll beatcha this time! There's no way I'll lose all three times!" Sonic exclaimed. "You're on Sonic!" Tails replied. "With all due respect Sonic, I think you're going down." Crash snickered. "Oh yeah? Whose side are you on anyway?" Sonic asked. "The side that's gonna win me five rings of my own." Crash replied.

"Sonic, PLEASE don't lose." Dash said. "Geez, no pressure right?" Sonic joked. "You men, always gambling." Amy sighed. "Hey! Sandwiches! Gimme gimme!" Crash jumped up and grabbed for the sandwiches, but Amy ducked and sent Crash flying into the kitchen, where a loud crash was heard. "I'm ok!" Crash exclaimed. "Yeah but my kitchen isn't." Tails sighed. "Hey Dasher, can you come here a second?" Ashley asked. "Sure thing. You!" Dash pointed an accusing finger at his best friend, "Behave yourself, I don't want Sonic to complain about sabotage."

"Who me? Sabotage? Don't pull my leg." Crash laughed. "I won't if you behave." Dash laughed as well. Dash walked over to the purple hedgehog who was sitting upright in her chair now. "What's up Ash?" Dash asked. "Listen, um…I just wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I treated you while Shadow was here, I mean, you've always looked out for me, even if I didn't really want it. I just want you to know I appreciate that, and thank you." Ashley said. "Aww, I can't stay mad at you, you know that." Dash smiled.

Ashley smiled too and gave the ice wielder a quick embrace, which caught Dash slightly off guard. "Now shoo, go back and throw your rings away on stupid boy stuff." Ashley giggled. "I'll have you know girls play that game too." Dash replied. "Sure, the ones with no lives." Ashley laughed. "Bah, what do you know?" Dash stuck his tongue out at the purple girl and walked away, leaving her giggling with amusement. "Remember I play winner!" Knuckles exclaimed. "That winner's gonna be me for sure!" Sonic exclaimed. "You know what? I want a piece of the action! Here's a bet for you Sonic! If you lose, you have to give me a kiss!" Amy exclaimed. "He accepts!" Knuckles shouted with a laugh.

"I what?" Sonic screamed back. "Hey if you're so sure you're gonna win you shouldn't have any problems saying yes!" Tails snickered. "Ahh what the heck? You're on Amy! But what's in it for me when I win?" Sonic asked. "I still remember that recipe for chili dogs Ella taught me. How about I cook you up a batch IF you win?" Amy suggested. "Oh ho ho, it is ON now!" Sonic laughed. "It better be, it's time for sudden death!" Crash exclaimed. Tails had his character jump off the edge and hang, while Sonic started getting impatient. "Get off of there Tails! What the heck are you doing?" Sonic asked. "You'll see." Tails snickered. Sonic put down his controller and leaned back, "You can hang there all you want, as soon as you get back up you're mine."

Just then, he heard an explosion and his character flying off the screen. "WHAAAT?" Sonic shouted in shock, "What happened? He never left the edge! How'd he hit me?" Sonic groaned. "I didn't hit you, you just don't know since you've never lasted long enough. If you stall in sudden death, the game tries to speed things up by dropping bombs on you. You just lost Sonic." Tails laughed. Everyone else started laughing too, even the loser Dash thought it was funny. "Ok Dash, pay up!" Crash exclaimed. All of a sudden it wasn't funny anymore. "Oh yeah! We had a bet Sonic, five rings please." Tails said.

"Can't believe this." Sonic and Dash tossed five rings to their respective debtors and started walking over to the kitchen to chow down on Amy and Cream's sandwiches. "Sonic? Aren't you forgetting something?" Amy asked flirtatiously. "Oh no." Sonic whined. "Yep, we had a bet too." Amy laughed. "You sure you won't accept five rings too? How about ten?" Sonic asked. "Nope, we agreed on a kiss. Look it doesn't even have to be on the lips, you can choose wherever you want, it'll mean the same to me." Amy said. Sonic groaned and looked Amy over to try and find a spot. "No comments from any of you!" Sonic barked.

Cringing a little, Sonic leaned forward and kissed Amy's forehead, which immediately made them both blush. "There, now that wasn't so bad was it?" Amy asked sweetly. Before Sonic could comment, the power went out inside the workshop. "Aww man! I was winning!" Crash whined. Knuckles then felt the Master Emerald's power wavering, as if it was trying to get their attention, by blinking its glow at the group. "Hey Knux, your rock's calling you." Sonic snickered. Knuckles growled and went over to the emerald. "That IS weird though, I wonder why the power went out." Tails said.

Knuckles' eyes suddenly widened in horror. "Sonic…Tikal just told me to get outside. NOW." Knuckles burst out the door, leaving the others behind. "Was Knuckles just…scared?" Amy asked. "Come on, let's go!" Sonic and the others burst out the door and gasped when they saw Knuckles, Blaze, and Houdini facing off against someone they never thought they'd see again. "It can't be…" Sonic gasped. "Surprised to see me Sonic?" the figure chortled. "Nazo…" Sonic growled. "I'm flattered you haven't forgotten me, and I have not forgotten how you and Shadow sent me to oblivion." Nazo replied.

"Who's that Sonic?" Amy asked nervously. "Nazo…it took everything we all had to defeat him…remember that big blast of darkness on Angel Island? That was him." Sonic replied. "You mean he's the one who almost killed you?" Amy asked. "Yep." Sonic replied. "How are you alive?" Knuckles growled. "You should know by now that chaos energy is extremely unpredictable, as am I." Nazo replied. "Well I can predict this much; you will not triumph against us all!" Blaze exclaimed. "Ahh Blaze, I remember you, you were the one who thought I was Sonic." Nazo replied.

"Wait, how does he know who Blaze is?" Sonic asked. Tails scanned Nazo and got a somewhat unfamiliar reading. "Sonic…it IS Nazo, his body is made of chaos energy…but I'm also getting parts of the same reading I got on the Death Egg." Tails said. "You mean Zero?" Sonic asked. "Gotta be!" Tails replied.

"Then that means he's probably still on that breeding kick!" Instinctively Sonic stepped in front of Amy protectively. "I assure you Sonic, I no longer have any interest in capturing that girl, I'm well aware now that any female will do for my purpose. But first I must avenge my previous death and obliterate you and Shadow." Nazo replied. "Sounds to me like Zero's memories are all mixed up with Nazo's." Tails said. "Well now, if you all don't mind I think I'll just take the Master Emerald and pick up where I left off." Nazo moved forward to simply walk into the workshop, but obviously Sonic and his friends weren't just going to let him waltz in and take it. "You didn't really think we were just gonna let you take the Master Emerald did you?" Sonic asked, blocking the hedgehog's path.

"But of course not, what sort of a hero would you be if you didn't at least attempt to get in my way? And at the same time, what kind of a villain would I be if I didn't retaliate?" Nazo jumped back and got into battle-ready stance, which provoked the others to do the same. "Amy, take Cream and get inside! We'll take out this creep!" Sonic exclaimed. "But Sonic I…ok, good luck!" Amy ushered Cream into the safety of the workshop while the rest stayed outside to battle. "It's not too late to change your mind." Nazo said. "Like you said, what kind of a hero would I be if I didn't try?" Sonic replied. "So be it." Nazo charged forward and attacked Sonic and Knuckles first, knocking them hard with a barrage of punches and kicks. "Let's get him Crash!" Dash and Crash charged towards the silver hedgehog just as he sent Sonic and Knuckles flying into the air. Dash and Crash managed to combine for a hard jab to Nazo's gut and knocked him back slightly before jumping back towards their team.

"You call him tough? That was a piece of cake!" Crash laughed. Nazo merely chortled evilly at that comment. "What's so funny?" Crash asked. "How quickly you all forget. Perhaps you need a reminder of the true power I possess." Nazo replied. "Was that supposed to be a dare? You're on!" Crash pulled out his plasma saber and charged towards Nazo who merely stood there. "Crash wait!" Knuckles roared. Crash ignored the echidna's warning and slashed right through the silver hedgehog with his sword. But then the sword fell to pieces in Crash's hands, which invoked a shriek of horror from him. "Now if you're quite finished making a fool of yourself, I do have my revenge to carry out." Nazo replied.

"Over our dead bodies!" Knuckles growled. "Isn't that the point?" Nazo replied. That comment set Knuckles off. "You're mine!" The echidna warrior charged forward and started punching at the silver hedgehog with his powerful arms, but Nazo simply dodged each attack as they came. Then Knuckles buried underground and came up and launched a hard uppercut to Nazo's jaw. "That's our cue gang! Let's give it all we got!" Sonic and his friends charged forward and started a barrage on the silver hedgehog, with Sonic using Blue Bomber with Tails to knock Nazo back to the ground, and then Blaze came in with a Fire Spin. However Nazo wasn't about to just let himself be ridiculed, as he quickly rebounded with Chaos Control and got behind the purple cat and kicked her in the back.

"He can use Chaos Control?" Dash asked in shock. "That's what I said the first time!" Sonic got back to attacking, but Nazo was already in the driver's seat and there was no stopping him. Everyone wound up bumping into each other as Nazo continued to warp away and attack on the reappearance. Houdini tried to find a nerve point with his karate and possibly cripple Nazo, but the hedgehog was too fast and just punched the marsupial and then warped behind him to give him a hard kick from behind. Then Sonic came from behind Nazo and started a speedy barrage of attacks that actually managed to make contact, but just as fast as it started, Nazo stopped the attacks and knocked Sonic into Dash who was coming from behind. "Chaos Torrent!" Nazo launched a barrage of blasts that bashed everyone in the area with chaos energy.

"Who is this creature?" Blaze hissed. "Someone you wouldn't wanna meet in a dark alley, that's for sure." Ashley replied. "Blaze, the Sol Emeralds! Use 'em!" Sonic yelled. Blaze nodded and allowed the emeralds to float around her body and transform her into Burning Blaze. "This battle is now over!" she shouted. "I beg to differ!" Nazo quipped back. Blaze charged forward and got into a close combat battle with the silver hedgehog, and managed to knock Nazo down with a swift Fire Punch, then the pyrokinetic cat launched a barrage of fireballs down towards Nazo who merely rebounded and warped away to dodge the blasts. Then coming from above, Nazo slammed Blaze down into the ground just as Sonic and Knuckles came up to advance once more.

But Nazo merely blasted two balls of energy and repelled the two attackers while Dash and Ashley tried their attacks on the creature, but Dash's Ice Punch merely got redirected at Ashley after Nazo grabbed him and threw him towards her. Tails came up with his energy blaster and launched a barrage of attacks at the monster, but hit nothing but air as Nazo was too fast for the young fox. Finally Tails tried to get in close and knock Nazo back down to Earth by using his tails, but Nazo merely warped away and knocked Tails down instead.

By now Blaze was back and giving Nazo a hard time with her different dimension super form. But Nazo would not be denied as he grabbed the feline by the arms and flew low to the ground, bowling over everyone before kicking the cat away. Blaze quickly recovered and glared furiously at the hedgehog. Blaze's entire body suddenly seemed to ignite, as she charged what looked like her most powerful attack. "Hit the dirt!" Sonic yelled. The group did faceplants to try and avoid the brunt of the attack, while Nazo merely stared in confusion.

"Blazing…Inferno!" Blaze seemed to explode as a huge ball of fire stretched out and obliterated almost everything in its way, the destructive force of the flames even singeing Sonic and the others. When the flames cooled down, Blaze was seen in her normal form, panting with exhaustion. "Boy, I've been barbequed way too many times." Crash commented. "Is it over?" Ashley asked. "Wow Blaze, that was incredible!" Houdini said. "You're not afraid of my flames?" Blaze asked wearily. "You could never scare me. It's not the power that makes the heroine, it's the girl who wields the power, and I know you would never use it recklessly." Houdini replied. Blaze relinquished a small smile and thanked the marsupial for the encouragement. But just then, Knuckles stopped in his tracks. "Sonic…I feel that strange energy from before." he said warningly.

The group looked around warily, waiting for Nazo to come back out. Then Nazo came from behind Blaze and punched her hard, sending the girl flying and knocking over everyone else again in the process. "What am I, a bowling pin?" Crash groaned. "You might as well be." Nazo commented as he walked by them. Nazo then walked into the workshop, "No!" Sonic and Knuckles both tried to get back up and fight, but the beating Nazo had given them had left them exhausted. "Hey! Leave that alone!" they heard Amy shout.

"Amy!" That gave Sonic a second wind as he pushed himself up and ran to the workshop. But just as quickly as he got there, Nazo came charging out with a furious expression on his face, knocking Sonic back in the process. "Where is that moronic guardian?" Nazo growled. "Looking for me?" Knuckles gained a second wind and charged forward to punch Nazo, but the hedgehog warped away and came from behind and grabbed Knuckles by the throat and held him against the workshop wall. "What did you do to the Master Emerald? Why can't I get to it?" Nazo snarled.

"I don't know!" Knuckles replied angrily. Nazo squeezed tighter on the echidna's throat, "You DO know! Tell me!" he roared. "I would rather die!" Knuckles coughed. "That can be arranged!" Nazo charged a blast of energy in his other hand, but before he got the chance to fire, Sonic and Blaze came up, "Back off Nazo!" Sonic barked. Nazo used the blast in his hand to fire at the two heroes, but they both dodged and moved forward to attack. Nazo warped away, leaving Knuckles to crumple to the ground and Sonic and Blaze to leave huge dents in Tails' Workshop wall. "And I just painted that wall too." Tails groaned.

"You ok Knux?" Sonic asked. Knuckles nodded weakly as Sonic and Blaze helped the guardian up, but Chaos Control came into play once more as Nazo reappeared and disappeared again with Blaze in tow. "Hey! Let her go!" Houdini barked. Nazo reappeared with Blaze's neck held tightly in his arm, "I've had enough of this fooling around, you all seem to think I don't mean what I say when I say my power is more than you can handle, so now SHE will become an example of just how powerful I am!" Nazo punched Blaze in the neck and stunned her, and then he flew up into the air and charged a huge ball of energy above his head. "Chaos Torrent!" Nazo fired.

"No!" Houdini scrambled to get to Blaze, and managed to push the feline out of the way before the blast got to her, and just as he expected, he had no time to get out of the way himself, and became immersed in the sheer strength of Nazo's blast. "No!" Blaze cried. When the light faded, Houdini was seen lying limply on the floor, blood leaking from all over his body. Nazo then landed in front of the glider and shook his head. "How foolish." he said. He then looked up at the group who was now extremely upset at Nazo for his deed. "Let this pitiful rodent's demise be a lesson to you all, it's useless to oppose me…however…if you still have a death wish, then I shall be waiting on Dr. Eggman's Death Egg for anyone who still feels the need to punish themselves further." Nazo said.

"You can bet I'll be there! You'll pay for this Nazo!" Sonic growled. "Actually Sonic, I would prefer if you went and found Shadow before you arrive, I can't very well carry out my revenge unless you both are there to take part in it." Nazo replied. "I'll take Shadow's place, because now I have my own revenge to carry out!" Blaze hissed. "If you insist on joining them, by all means do so. I'll even let you keep those emeralds of yours since they're of no use to me…however…" Nazo vanished and reappeared in front of them, "I'll be taking these off your hands since they're an important part of my plan."

"The Chaos Emeralds!" the group shouted. "Farewell Sonic, I shall await your arrival." Nazo warped away just before Sonic got to him, sending the blue hedgehog flying forward feet first into a tree. "You ok Sonic?" Tails asked. "We can't let him have those emeralds!" Sonic replied. "Tell us what to do!" Dash exclaimed. "This'll be way too dangerous; I can't ask you guys to get involved." Sonic replied. "Hey, we're already involved; now tell us what we gotta do and we'll do it." Dash replied determinedly.

Sonic walked up to Dash and smirked, "Dash the Hedgehog, you and your friends are real troopers." he said. "Hey, has anyone seen Blaze?" Tails asked. "She's over here." Knuckles said. The group turned and frowned as they saw Blaze kneeling over the valiant glider who sacrificed himself to save her. "I shall avenge you…my friend." she choked. Blaze felt a whole tidal wave of sadness wash over her, not even Sonic had offered up his life to save hers before, and yet this gallant marsupial had been mercilessly ripped to shreds by chaos energy on her behalf. Blaze even felt a lone tear escape from her eye, and saw it drop on Houdini's face. Sonic walked up and placed a comforting hand on the cat's shoulder. "I'm sorry." he said softly.

Blaze got up and regained her composure, wiping her eyes before walking forward. "That monster will pay for what he's done." Blaze hissed. The group began to walk away, "Blaze…" Blaze stopped in her tracks as a voice reached her sensitive hearing. "What's wrong Blaze?" Ashley asked. "That Nazo guy isn't back is he?" Crash cringed. "Blaze…" Blaze heard the weak voice again. "It came from…(gasp)" Blaze rushed back over to the glider and knelt down, holding his head in her arms. "Houdini?"

Houdini opened his eyes slightly and tried to focus his vision, "Blaze…are you ok?" he asked weakly. "You're alive…Tails, come here!" Blaze shouted. "Not so loud, remember I hear too well for my own good." Houdini chuckled. "I'm sorry, don't worry, we'll take care of you. I promise." Blaze replied. "Thank you…for caring." Houdini smiled and relaxed in her gentle hold, closing his eyes to rest. By now Tails had shown up. "Hey, you're ok!" Tails pulled out a first aid kit and started cleaning Houdini's wounds. "(Shiver) That's cold." Houdini grunted. "Here, I'll keep you warm." Blaze summoned a tiny bit of the flames inside her, in order to act as a living heater for the injured glider. Houdini sighed and relaxed in her warmth, as Tails began bandaging the glider's wounds, his own wounds bothering him as he did it.

"Think you can make it inside?" Tails asked. "I'm gonna have to." Houdini tried to get up under his own power, but the glider simply didn't have the strength to get on his feet. "Nope, I need some help." Houdini groaned. Blaze and Sonic each grabbed a side and helped the glider hobble into the workshop. "Is everyone ok? That mean Mr. Nazo tried to steal the Master Emerald!" Cream exclaimed. "Oh my gosh! You all look terrible! Cream, find some first aid kits!" Amy cried. "Look in the bathroom Cream!" Tails exclaimed before plopping down into his computer chair.

Cream came back and started tending to Tails' wounds, wrapping bandage gauze around the fox's head and ribs. "Thanks Cream." Tails groaned. "You're welcome." Cream smiled and moved on to take care of Dash and his friends. "Hold still Sonic." Amy said as she tried to wrap bandages around Sonic's ribs. "Sorry Nurse." Sonic joked. Amy shook her head and rolled her eyes playfully as she finished her nursing job. "At least the Master Emerald is safe. Luckily Tikal was in there to put up that force field." Knuckles said as he admired his stone.

"I wonder what made her come back alive all of a sudden." Sonic wondered. "Maybe she realized Knuckles would some help this time, we could all use all the help we can get at this point." Amy replied as she went and wrapped bandages around Blaze's upper body. Amy wasn't quite so wary being around the feline any longer, as Blaze's apparent subtle affections had moved from Sonic to Houdini, which in her opinion, was a better match anyway. "I'll tell you what I'M wondering. Sonic and Shadow destroyed Nazo completely, AND Sonic just finished destroying Zero, so how did they both come back to life?" Tails wondered.

"Hey, didn't he say he'd be waiting on the Death Egg? Maybe Eggman has something to do with it!" Amy suggested. "It's worth looking into, but for now our biggest problem is that Nazo has all of the Chaos Emeralds." Tails replied. "What do we have to worry about? Without the Master Emerald, Nazo can't get any stronger than he already is." Knuckles said. "True, but at the same time, we already can't beat him as it is, we all got trounced out there, and the only one who really had any sort of chance was Blaze, and that was AFTER she used her emeralds to even the odds a little." Tails replied.

"It's weird; I don't remember him being THAT strong when we faced him the first time." Sonic said. "It probably has something to do with the fact that Zero's consciousness is inside him somehow, and that would also explain why Nazo has memory of things that never really happened to him, they happened to Zero instead." Tails explained. "Regardless of the strength of our enemy, we ARE committed." Blaze said. "Yeah, but committed to what? Suicide? That Nazo character has all of those emeralds and there's no way we can take him!" Crash exclaimed.

"WE can't…but maybe Blaze can. If we can give Blaze enough help, maybe she can use her emeralds to beat Nazo. Or at the very least, she can distract him long enough for me to snag the emeralds." Houdini suggested. "Do you think you can?" Dash asked. "Hey I may be banged up, but there's no way I'm getting left behind." Houdini replied. "Great! So we're good to go?" Dash asked. "Looks like it." Sonic replied. "Tails, everyone, come quick!" Cream shouted suddenly. Tails unsurprisingly was the first one out of his chair when Cream cried out. "Cream, what's wrong?" Tails asked worriedly. "Your machines…" Cream said sadly. "Aww, that's no big deal, as long as…" Tails then spotted something that made his heart shatter. "No…" Tails walked over to a broken shelf, where a pot had shattered on the ground, and a flower was lying down in the released soil.

"Oh no." Cream gasped. "Hey, everything alright in here?" Sonic asked. Sonic looked and saw Tails kneeling down in front of the shattered flower pot, holding the flower gently in his hands, with tears pushing to escape his sky blue eyes. "Aww Tails, buddy…" Sonic sighed. By now they had drawn up a crowd, and Amy immediately realized why Tails was so melancholy. "Cosmo…" Amy sighed. "What? What's wrong? It's just a flower…isn't it?" Ashley asked quietly. Amy shook her head sadly at the purple hedgehog. "Hey Tails, we can replant it! It'll be ok." Sonic said.

Tails just sighed and put the flower back on the ground before running past everyone and leaping onto the couch facedown, sobbing. "Poor Tails." Cream said sadly. "What're we gonna do? We can't ask Tails to do anything now, that'd be inhuman..." Amy said. "But without him there's no way we're going ANYWHERE, and Nazo may start causing trouble just to get our attention." Knuckles replied. "I have an idea, why don't we go and replant the flower? It might help a little." Ashley suggested. "Good idea Ashley." Amy replied. The girls were about to go and replant the flower when Amy stopped the youngest of them all. "Not you Cream." she said. "Why not Amy? I wanna help Tails too!" Cream replied.

"Ok, go help him then, you can make him feel better." Amy winked and quietly closed the garage door. Cream looked back at Tails who was still crying hard, and realized what Amy meant. The young rabbit walked by the guys who were quietly watching, and watched as Cream knelt down in front of Tails on the couch. "It's ok Tails, we'll fix it." Cream said softly. "I couldn't save her back when we fought the Metarex…she DIED because of me! And now…I can't even keep what's left of her from getting destroyed! I'm so useless." Tails sobbed.

"You're not useless Tails, you're very useful! Just look at all the inventions you've made that have kept us from being hurt by Dr. Eggman! You built the Blue Typhoon, without that we wouldn't have been able to save the universe!" Cream exclaimed. "I guess…but…Cosmo…" Tails sniffled. "Cosmo wouldn't have wanted you to be sad because of her, please don't be sad Tails, you'll make me sad too." Cream softly embraced the yellow fox's soft fluffy fur, and Tails, who was grateful just to have a source of comfort embraced back. "Don't worry Tails, everything will be ok, I promise." Cream said. "Thank you Cream." Tails replied.

Tails loosened his grip for a moment and gently pulled back so he could see the kind and caring brown eyes that had just soothed his hurting heart, Cream truly did remind him so much of Cosmo, her kindness, her innocence, the way she cared for others, including him. It almost made Tails feel that, maybe Cream was someone he could turn to when he needed comfort, and love; she certainly wasn't incapable of doing that, this situation alone proved that. Tails embraced Cream again, who was more than happy to reciprocate. "Young love I guess." Dash shrugged. "Way to go Tails, ya found a bandage for that hole in your heart." Sonic whispered to himself.

Then Cream pulled back to wipe away some tears from the fox's eyes and smiled, which made Tails smile a little too. And from the garage, all of the girls came out of the garage holding a brand new flowerpot, with Cosmo's flower standing tall in the new soil. "Thanks everyone." Tails said, "Wait a second…the Blue Typhoon! Cream, you're a genius!" Tails leaped off the couch and ran back to his garage, and pressed a button on the wall. Within moments, a hatch opened up in the floor, and a line of lights turned on one at a time, revealing Tails' greatest creation ever. By now the others had followed him in. "Wow…what an awesome ship!" Crash exclaimed. "He built this thing all by himself?" Ashley asked. "Not totally, we helped him, but the design was ALL Tails." Amy explained.

"Nazo may have taken out the X-Tornado, but with this, we can get up to the Death Egg with no problems!" Tails exclaimed. "Tails, how'd you manage to get the Typhoon underneath your house?" Amy exclaimed. "Well it wasn't easy, that's for sure, but at least it's here for us to use." Tails replied.

"Sounds good to me, so what are you gonna power it with this time?" Knuckles asked. "Well I do have ONE idea." Tails said. All eyes soon fell on the emerald guardian. "Oh no, we're not using the Master Emerald again!" Knuckles yelled. "Knuckles we've got to!" Tails exclaimed. "What about Blaze's emeralds? They're powerful right?" Knuckles pointed at the cat who merely crossed her arms before replying, "True, my emeralds ARE powerful, but I highly doubt they'd be of any use to me while I'm facing Nazo if they're busy powering this ship."

"Besides, I'd have to adjust all of the ship's functions in order to be compatible with the energy frequency her emeralds give off, if I didn't, we could blow up!" Tails added. "But what about Tikal? She's in there remember? What'll happen to her if we suck up the Master Emerald's power? No, I won't let you use it!" Knuckles crossed his arms and stuck his snout in the sky with his eyes closed, refusing to listen to any reason. "Oh just wait until I get through with y…" Amy was stopped by Sonic and Tails. "He'll change his mind soon enough." Sonic snickered.

As if on cue, the Master Emerald in the other room glowed brightly as if to relay a message. Knuckles opened his eyes in shock, and then growled angrily. "Well Knuckles?" Sonic asked. "I'll get the emerald." Knuckles grunted. "The group cheered for the orange echidna inside the emerald, regardless of the fact she probably couldn't hear. "Alright guys! Go and get ready, it's gonna be one heck of a party!" Sonic exclaimed. The group left the basement to prepare themselves, all except for Tails and Cream who stayed behind. "Are you ok Tails?" Cream asked. "Yeah, I am now. Thanks to you." Tails replied. "So is there anything I can do to help?" Cream asked. "Yeah…you can stay behind with Gemerl. I don't want you getting hurt." Tails said.

"I won't. You won't let me." Cream replied. Tails laughed through an exhale and led Cream by the hand into the Blue Typhoon. As the group crowded back into the basement, Crash decided to hang back. "Hey Crash, you coming?" Dash asked. "You know I think someone should stay behind and make sure nothing bad happens, maybe I could fix the dent in Tails' wall!" Crash exclaimed. "You're not scared are you?" Ashley asked. "Who me? Scared? No way, I just don't wanna end up in the hospital!" Crash replied. "You are too scared." Dash snickered.

"I am not!" Crash yelled. "Hey listen Crash, if you're scared, you can always stay behind and clean up the mess Nazo made, it might take you a year and a half, but you'll be nice and safe." Sonic laughed. "Hey Tails, I shut down the generator, the power should go out in a few minutes!" Amy exclaimed. "Wait, you shut down the generator? You mean…no electricity?" Crash asked. Amy nodded nonchalantly, "Yeah that's right." she said. "Good job Ames; gotta conserve energy." Sonic said as he and Amy walked into the Blue Typhoon together.

"But…how am I gonna do anything without electricity? I don't know how to turn it back on!" Crash whined. "You could always hand crank it." Blaze commented. "Are you crazy? I can't do that!" Crash yelled. Finally Knuckles walked in holding the Master Emerald, with Gemerl following along. "Last chance dude, either get in and fight, or stay here by yourself you coward." Knuckles grumbled. "Coward huh? I'll show you who's a coward!" Crash ran towards the Typhoon and dove into the door with Knuckles and Gemerl following closely. "Glad you decided to join us!" Sonic said.

"Well ya know, I guess I kinda wanna get that guy back for kicking my can!" Crash exclaimed. "Don't even go there; you just don't wanna be left behind without Tails' stupid videogame." Ashley sighed. The group laughed as Crash just looked around at his jeering friends. "Oh shut up."

"Alright Knuckles, you ready to get started?" Tails asked over his communicator. "Yeah yeah, just gimme a second to hook the Master Emerald up to your power absorber things." Knuckles replied. Knuckles placed the Master Emerald into a slot in the engine room, and began his chant. "The servers are the seven chaos…chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart…the controller is the one that unifies the chaos. Master Emerald we need your help once more! Give us your power so that we can accomplish our mission of heroism…and PLEASE don't hurt Tikal while you do it." Knuckles tacked on that last part out of cautiousness; he didn't wanna risk losing the only other echidna he had even heard from in years.

The Master Emerald glowed brightly, and the power of the mighty gem flowed into the engines of the Blue Typhoon, which made it roar to life. "Alright Tails, engines on!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Perfect! Ok everyone, brace yourselves, it's time for takeoff!" Tails pressed a button, and the house above got lifted up by a large metal lift, and allowed the Typhoon to get above ground. "Here we go!" Tails accelerated and the Typhoon took off into the sky.

"Where are those idiots going now?" A certain black hedgehog looked up into the sky and saw the Blue Typhoon going higher and higher into the sky. Just then, a beeping came over Shadow's GUN communicator. "Shadow here." he said. "Well well, if it isn't everyone's favorite black hedgehog." A sultry voice said. "Oh Rouge, back from vacation early huh?" Shadow huffed. "I wouldn't have if the commander hadn't called me back early. Something about a hedgehog wreaking havoc…then again, I went down to Miami expecting sun and sand, and all I got was rain and mud." Rouge replied.

"Well you're a little late, from what I hear Sonic already took care of it…next time the commander orders me to help them, I'm giving him a swift kick in the butt, he has some nerve defending those moronic tagalongs even though all they did was get in my way." Shadow said. "Well how come he had to defend them?" Rouge asked. "They gave me a hard time about not helping their friend. It wasn't my job to babysit them, I was told to get the Sol Emeralds, and that's what I did. And what thanks do I get?" Shadow grumbled.

"Shadow, why didn't you help them?" Rouge asked. "Like I said, it wasn't my job, and Sonic shouldn't have tried to make it my job." Shadow replied. "I'm surprised at you! You usually try and help people who are on your team, what if it had been Maria tagging along?" Rouge asked. That comment struck a nerve. "Don't go there Rouge." Shadow warned. "Shadow you made a promise to her remember? To give humankind a chance to be happy, wasn't that it?" Rouge asked. "Yes it was, but why does that make a difference? The job got done didn't it?" Shadow asked.

"Yes it did, but my point is that that promise you made applies to everyone, not just people you pick and choose. I'm not trying to judge you Shadow, I'm just saying as a friend that you should rethink what you did." Rouge said. "Noted, is there anything…wait…" Shadow looked at a tree and saw a dying ember on it. "What is it Shadow?" Rouge asked. "That cat girl…standby Rouge." Shadow followed the trail of embers to the spot of the battle, and eventually found Tails' Workshop on top of the metal pole. Shadow leaped up and entered, and found that the power was out. "Shadow here."

"I'm here Shadow, what's wrong?" Rouge asked. "Tails' Workshop is practically destroyed. I saw them leaving on the Blue Typhoon, but I think it's safe to say that they didn't make this mess themselves." Shadow replied. "I'll see if I can hack into Tails' mainframe from here." Rouge said. "Don't bother, the power's out. I'm gonna check the generator." Shadow went into another room and found the generator, and switched it back on, and immediately the power came back. "Ok Rouge, give it a try now." Shadow said.

"Got it." Rouge started working from her computer and managed to hack into Tails' data after some difficulty. "Boy, that kid sure knows how to set up a firewall." Rouge commented, "Alright…I've got some data on some sort of alien thing…that came from the ARK originally." Rouge said. "Tails' must've hacked into the ARK's database to find about something." Shadow shrugged. "And, there's something here about a hedgehog that…Shadow…" Rouge gasped.

"What is it?" Shadow asked. "I think you need to see this yourself. I'm relaying the data to your communicator." Rouge pressed a few keys, and within moments Shadow was looking at an image he hoped never to see again. "Nazo!" Shadow growled, "No wonder they left on the Typhoon, he must be back, but how?" Shadow wondered. "I'm willing to bet Eggman's got something to do with it." Rouge replied. "Rouge, I'm going to Angel Island! Tell the commander that I'll be out of contact until further notice!" Shadow exclaimed. "Sure, but why?" Rouge asked. "If Nazo's alive, Angel Island is the first place he'll go, and I can't let him get any stronger." Shadow said. "Good luck Shadow, make Maria proud." Rouge hung up and left Shadow to hid thoughts. "Maria…I will make good on my promise."  
_

**A/N: Uh oh, looks like things are getting rough. Sonic and the gang are going to the Death Egg for a final showdown with Nazo, but what does that vicious hedgehog have in store for them? And will Blaze be strong enough to defeat him? Only one way to find out!**


	15. Time to Step Up

**Well Sonic fans, here's the next chapter of the Dash Adventure. I said things would get more exciting down the line, and what do you know? It did. ^^ Nazo's on the attack and now the gang has a lot of work to do. Without further ado, here's the next chapter! I own nothing except the story and Houdini the Sugar Glider.  
_**

As the Blue Typhoon left the Earth's atmosphere, tension was beginning to rise within the confines of the ship, one more so than the others. "We'll never pull this off!" Crash yelled. "Dude, chill out, we've got this all planned out." Sonic replied. "Oh yeah, some plan, get her to fight that guy even after she got her butt handed to her!" Crash exclaimed nervously. "I suggest you close your mouth before I stick your foot in it." Blaze hissed. "Uh…think I'll go hang with…someone else." Crash nervously walked away.

"I will admit though…it won't be easy to defeat him." Blaze said. "Well that's why we're here; we're gonna back you up." Sonic replied. "That goes double for me." Houdini added, walking up to the two. "Thank you, really." Blaze replied. "How much longer until we get to the Death Egg, Tails?" Knuckles asked over the intercom. "Should be just a few minutes Knuckles, why is something wrong?" Tails asked. "Nothing I can see, I'm more worried about what I CAN'T see." Knuckles replied. "I'm sure Tikal will be fine, just take it easy and we'll be there in a sec." Tails said.

The Blue Typhoon docked inside the Death Egg, and the group cautiously walked out the door and looked around. "Seems calm enough." Houdini said, as he climbed up the hull of the Typhoon and got a higher view. "All clear!" he exclaimed. The rest of the group walked out of the Typhoon just as Houdini hopped off the roof. "So what's the plan? No doubt that if the doctor truly is involved in this situation, he's set up a plethora of traps and hazards." Blaze said. "Pletho-wha?" Crash asked cluelessly. "She means a bunch of stuff to stop us." Tails replied.

Just then, a loud voice amplified by speakers rang through the entire Death Egg. "I see you Sonic." the voice chortled. "Nazo." Sonic growled. "Can you see me?" Nazo asked evilly. "Come out Nazo! So we can pound you to pieces!" Sonic yelled out. "Don't be in such a rush, you all just got here after all. We need to have a little warm up before the main event." Nazo snickered. "What's that supposed to mean?" Sonic yelled. The intercom went dead, leaving the others to wonder what Nazo could've meant by that. "I don't like this." Knuckles growled lowly.

"Blaze must be right, something's in there waiting for us." Houdini said. "Tails, anything?" Sonic asked. "The long range scanner isn't picking up any movement besides us. A bluff maybe?" Tails suggested. "I can tell you personally that he's not the kind of person who bluffs." Houdini replied, referring to when he got blasted. "So what'll we do then?" Dash asked. "Guess there's nothing we can do but head on in and keep our guards up." Sonic replied, "Amy, Cream, stay here with Gemerl. The rest of you, let's go."

"Crash, stay with them ok?" Dash said. "You took the words right out of my mouth big guy; I'll stay here and uh…hold down the fort!" Crash dove headfirst into the Blue Typhoon, which made Dash and Ashley roll their eyes at each other. "So we're set. Here we…" Sonic was suddenly cut off by a shrill voice.

"Hold on Sonic! I'm going this time!" Amy exclaimed determinedly. "(Sigh) Amy…" Sonic walked up to the pink hedgehog and stared her down. "Stay here. Nazo might try to get to you again, and I don't want that to happen." he said seriously. "But Sonic I…" Amy was quickly cut off. "Stay here. PLEASE." Sonic said, on the verge of begging. Amy hesitated to answer, but finally nodded in agreement. "No crying while I'm gone ok? I'll be right back!" Sonic took off running into the depths of Eggman's fortress, with the others not far behind. "Do you think they'll be ok Amy?" Cream asked. "I don't know Cream. I just don't know." Amy sighed.

After a while of running, they came across a few classic badniks from the old days. "You know no matter how many new robots Eggman comes up with, it's always nice to beat the classics." Sonic snickered. Tails rolled his eyes and flew up to a ledge, and threw down a rope for the less athletic members of the group, Dash and Ashley. "We're not slowing you guys down are we?" Dash asked. "Nah, you're just making this adventure more fun." Sonic replied. Dash reached the ledge and helped Ashley up as well. "So, how many more of those rough climbs are we gonna have to deal with?" Ashley asked, brushing herself off.

"Whaddya say Tails? Are we close?" Sonic asked. "The Chaos Emeralds are right behind this next door. This is it!" Tails exclaimed. "Right! So let's bring the pain!" Knuckles charged for the door and punched down the door after multiple strikes. "Nazo!" he roared. Knuckles looked around for something to punch, but saw that the room was empty except for the Chaos Emeralds. "He's not here." Dash said. "Maybe he went to the little monster's room?" Ashley suggested. "Whatever the case, I say we grab the emeralds while we can." Knuckles suggested.

"Right, looks like I'm on." Houdini hopped over to the emeralds and tried to gently lift them from their places, but once they got moved, an alarm went off and the door Knuckles broke down suddenly sealed up with three layers worth of door. Knuckles hammered his fists into the door to try and free them all, but even his great strength couldn't get through. "We're trapped!" he growled. Just then, a holographic image appeared in the middle of the room. "It would seem you've found the designated area, congratulations." Nazo said.

"You! Where are you you coward?" Blaze hissed. "Patience Blaze, your time will come, but before we do battle, I still need the Master Emerald." Nazo replied. "Well that's too bad, because that force field is still up, so there's no way you'll ever get your hands on it!" Knuckles growled. "Indeed, the force field is up, but from what I can see it won't last forever. I estimate about five minutes before I break the field down completely." Nazo replied. "Wait, what do you mean by…" Knuckles was cut off by a loud voice. "Lemme at him! Lemme at him! I'll murder the creep!" Crash yelled. "Silence! Annoying little insect." Nazo growled.

"Crash!" Dash and Ashley exclaimed. "You tricked us!" Sonic growled. "It would certainly seem that way. Oh, and did I mention the best part? As long as I'm here for the emerald, I've decided to go right ahead and take the female I need to procreate my species." Nazo said. The hologram suddenly showed Amy, bound and gagged by the silver hedgehog. "Mr. Sonic, Tails, Blaze, Mr. Knuckles! Help us! Gemerl's been turned off!" Cream cried from off camera. "You bastard!" Sonic suddenly felt the emeralds reacting to his negative feelings, as his fur started turning black. "Sonic, what's happening to you?" Tails asked in shock.

Hearing Tails mention something happening made Sonic suddenly realize what was about to happen, and he quickly cooled off before he went Dark. "You said you weren't interested in her!" Sonic barked. "I said that any female would do for my purposes, but the rabbit is far too young and too far away from maturation. Besides, since you decided to come without Shadow, I decided that I would take my revenge on you first, by making you watch her suffer." Nazo chortled. "No!" Sonic charged for the door and tried to break it down himself, but just like Knuckles, it was to no avail.

"I would save my strength if I were you; you still haven't gone through the warm up I had planned." Nazo said. "And if I were YOU I'd save your breath! I'm skipping the warm up and coming after you!" Sonic barked. "If you want me, you'll have to get past him first." Nazo's holographic image disappeared. "Who's him?" Dash asked. A loud bang was heard behind them; the group turned around and saw what looked like a Sonic-resembling robot. "Oh, he's him." Dash said. "Eggman's definitely involved in this; Metal Sonic looks totally different now!" Tails exclaimed.

"Initiating battle mode. Beginning energy absorption." Metal Sonic said. "He can talk?" Tails exclaimed in shock. "Energy absorb…the emeralds!" Sonic added. Indeed, Metal Sonic was using the Chaos Emeralds to power himself up, with a bright flash; the robot's metallic body now shined bright gold, as if he had his own version of a super form. "Energy output at maximum! Beginning objective: destroy!" Metal Sonic charged forward and attacked the group of heroes, knocking them all down. "Oh great, just what we need." Knuckles grumbled.

"Sonic, here!" Houdini hopped back to the emeralds and tossed them to Sonic, who upon getting their power transformed into Super Sonic. "I'll take care of him! You guys get to the Typhoon and help Amy!" Sonic yelled. "But how are we gonna get through the door?" Tails asked. "You gotta figure that out Tails, there's no time to discuss it! You have four minutes before Nazo takes Amy and the Master Emerald!" Sonic yelled as he held off the attacking robot. "But Sonic!" Tails exclaimed. "NOW Tails!" Sonic roared. Sonic battled with the super powered robot, while the others tried to break through the door.

"I've got an idea! Why don't we try using cold heat?" Tails exclaimed. "What?" Knuckles asked. "Blaze, use fire on the door!" Tails exclaimed. A little unsure of what the fox had in mind, Blaze acknowledged and fired a beam of heat at the door. "Now stop! Quick Dash, use ice where Blaze just fired!" Tails exclaimed. Now they understood as Dash fired a beam of ice at the door, and caused it to crack. "Alright, again!" Tails yelled. The two heroes took turns firing, which slowly but surely got the door to crack. Sonic however was getting extremely nervous. "They'll never make it in time!" he gasped.

The split second he took to look at their progress was all the robot needed to knock Sonic right out of his super form and steal the Chaos Emeralds. "Sonic!" they exclaimed. "He's gonna pay for that!" Sonic growled. "Security breach is imminent, initiating Death Egg self-destruct sequence." the robot vanished with the Chaos Emeralds, and a countdown was heard over the intercom. "Three minutes to self-destruction." A computer voice beeped. "We'll never make it!" Knuckles roared. By this time, Sonic couldn't wait anymore.

He banged into Blaze and forced her to relinquish the Sol Emeralds. "Are you out of your mind?" Blaze hissed. "I'll apologize later! Right now I need these!" Sonic activated the emeralds' power, unsure of what would happen to him should he use them, but he didn't care, if he didn't get out of that room right now, Amy would be forced to give her body and soul to a monster that wanted nothing more than to see her suffer. Not to mention they would all die now that the self-destruct sequence had started. With a loud roar and a bright flash of light, Sonic transformed.

When the light faded, there stood Sonic, his body on fire as if he were made of the hot element. His fur turned red and when he opened his eyes, they shone bright yellow. This was not Super Sonic, this was…Fire Sonic. "Whoa." Blaze gasped. Sonic then charged up a blazing spin dash and smashed into where Blaze and Dash had been working on the wall. The spin dash slowly melted through the door until Sonic made it to the other side. "Two minutes and thirty seconds to self-destruction." The computer voice beeped.

"See you guys back at the Typhoon! I'm going after Nazo!" Sonic flew at full speed with a trail of fire following him as he did so. Suddenly the robot reappeared and blocked Sonic's path, creating red clones of itself to act as a blockade. "Get out of my way!" Sonic fired a barrage of fireballs at the robots that could do nothing except be blown away by the attacks. "Two minutes to self-destruction."

"I know what time it is, I don't need a freaking cuckoo clock!" Sonic picked up the pace, and within seconds the Blue Typhoon was in sight. "Excellent, just a little more and the Master Emerald will be mine for the taking." Nazo chortled. "You really are a chicken aren't you? Why'd you have to tie me up huh? Scared I'm gonna do something to you?" Crash snorted. "You're really beginning to test my patience. Consider me tying you up a favor since I'm keeping you from an instant death…of course it doesn't really matter, you're all going to die anyway." Nazo replied.

"Oh yeah?" Sonic appeared and kicked Nazo hard with a burning foot to his side, knocking the silver hedgehog back and leaving a burn mark where Sonic had kicked him. Carefully, Sonic burned the ropes and gag off of Amy, and then Cream and Crash. "Sonic are you ok? What's happened to you?" Amy moved to touch Sonic. "Stay back Amy! I'm kinda too hot to handle right now!" Sonic warned. "But are you ok?" she asked again. "Don't worry, I'm alright. This is just what happens when I use the Sol Emeralds I guess." Sonic replied.

"I should've known this was going too smoothly." Nazo charged a huge blast and launched it at the Master Emerald. Sonic tried to get there to deflect it, but he was too late and instead got knocked back by the blast. The blast enveloped the Master Emerald, and the force field that had been protecting it for an extended period of time finally broke down. "Finally, the Master Emerald is mine!" Nazo exclaimed. "You'll have to get through me first!" Sonic leaped in front of the Master Emerald, his body blazing with flame. "Very well then!" Nazo charged for Sonic, and the speedy hedgehog braced himself for impact. But at the last second, Nazo vanished. "What the?" Sonic was then hit from behind by a hard kick from the teleporting Nazo, and the flaming hedgehog rammed into a wall and slowly started melting it as he lay there. "Sonic!" Amy cried.

Sonic got up and charged again, but Nazo merely blocked Sonic and kicked him into the ceiling. "Your persistence is astoundingly irritating. I suppose I'll be satisfied with just taking the Master Emerald." Nazo said. "One minute and thirty seconds to self-destruction." the computer voiced beeped. "I guess it really doesn't matter, you're all about to die anyway." Nazo warped away with the Master Emerald, and the power in the Blue Typhoon immediately went dead. And not only that, but Sonic's power had gone out too, as his new fire form powered down.

Sonic hit the ground and pushed himself back up. "We're not dead yet!" he growled. "But what'll we do Mr. Sonic? Mr. Nazo took away the Master Emerald so we can't get away!" Cream cried. "We still have these." Sonic held out the Sol Emeralds again for everyone to see. "Of course! We can use the Sol Emeralds to power the ship!" Amy exclaimed. "Whoa whoa whoa, back it up just one second; didn't you hear what Tails said? We could blow up!" Crash yelled. "One minute to self-destruction." the computer voiced beeped. "We'll blow up anyway if we don't!" Sonic replied.

Just then the rest of the group ran in. "Where's the Master Emerald?" Knuckles yelled worriedly. "Nazo's got it! But we don't have time to be upset about it! Tails! Get to the engine room and hook up the Sol Emeralds to the engine! Knuckles, Blaze, Houdini, you go with Tails! The rest of you come with me to the bridge! We gotta start this puppy up the split-second Tails gives us the go ahead! Let's move!" Sonic and the other took off running to their designated assignments, with the exception of Knuckles who was still shocked. "Nazo's got the emerald…he's got Tikal…" Once the shock wore off, he rushed to the engineering deck as well.

"Get to your stations everyone! Amy, take my spot!" Sonic ordered. "Gotcha Sonic!" Amy hopped into Sonic's usual spot and started clicking keys. "What am I supposed to do?" Crash exclaimed nervously. "Don't touch anything Crash, that's what." Dash replied. "Navigation online!" Amy gave a thumbs up to the blue hedgehog in the pilot's seat. "Forty-five seconds to self-destruction." the computer voice beeped. "Tails, we need that power!" Sonic yelled through the intercom. "I'm trying!" Tails replied. Tails stuck his head into a conduit and started rearranging wires, but a couple of sparks quickly got him out. "I knew this would happen, the Sol Emeralds' power is making things unstable!" Tails got back to work on the wires, but he wasn't optimistic about what the current outcome would be.

"C'mon baby, keep it together." Tails tried to tell his ship. "Thirty seconds to self-destruction." the computer voiced beeped again. "Tails!" Sonic roared. "The power's fluctuating! If I don't find a way to stabilize it we'll go up like a supernova!" Tails replied. "We'll be part of a bigger one if we don't get out now!" Sonic yelled. Another explosion outside made the Typhoon rumble furiously and knocked Cream and Crash out of their chairs. "Sonic the auxiliary shields are at 70% and dropping! The debris outside is making them buckle!" Amy exclaimed as she watched her status bar lower.

"I've got an idea…I'm going outside!" Dash exclaimed. "Dasher no!" Ashley cried. "Dash, get back here now!" Sonic yelled. Dash ignored the protests and found a hatch he could exit from. Dodging a piece of falling metal, Dash leaped out and created a huge shield of ice to cover the Typhoon from further damage, but the strain he was now feeling was tremendous. Using one hand to reinforce the shield, Dash used the other to activate his communicator. "I've put up an ice shield to block the debris, but there's no way it'll stop the explosion, we gotta get outta here!" Dash exclaimed. "Dasher you're amazing! Way to step up!" Ashley exclaimed.

"Come on Tails, isn't there anything else you can do?" Knuckles asked. "I've tried everything! There's only one other…" Tails looked behind him and eyed the radiation chamber where the power converter was. "Tails, what are you doing?" Knuckles asked. Tails bolted for the chamber and opened it, making sure to close it up behind him before he went to the machine.

"Tails, get out of there! You'll be killed!" Knuckles tried to punch down the glass wall, but Tails had made sure to have it specially treated to prevent the radiation from spreading around the rest of the ship. As the three continued to yell and protest to what Tails was doing, Tails opened up the lid of the converter and got bombarded by a blast of poisonous radiation. After getting past the initial shock, he stuck his hands inside and made an adjustment to the inner workings of the deadly machine. He could feel the radiation seeping into his body and sapping him of his energy and strength, but he knew that this was the only way to ensure the safety of his friends, even if he was pretty much condemning himself to death.

"Fifteen seconds to self-destruction." the computer voice said. Tails closed up the machine and gave a thumbs-up to the other three before falling to his knees, and finally falling to his face. "Go Sonic go!" Knuckles roared over the intercom. Once Sonic heard the go-ahead, He pushed the throttle to full speed and the Typhoon roared to life. "We're moving!" Crash exclaimed. "We're not out of the woods yet! Dash, get back inside!" Sonic yelled.

"Five seconds."

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

A series of explosions took place, shattering the shield of ice and knocking Dash to his face. A bright light chased the Typhoon on its way out, and for a moment it seemed they wouldn't make it, but at the last explosion, the force from it literally pushed the mighty starship out of the remains of the Death Egg and out of danger. "Are we ok?" Crash asked. "We made it! We're alive!" Amy cheered. Everyone cheered since they pulled off their narrow escape; even Sonic was overcome by emotional ecstasy and jumped up and down with Amy in joy. Then Dash came walking in, wobbly but nevertheless alive. Ashley ran and embraced the black and blue hedgehog in joy. "That was incredibly brave of you." she said. "Yeah…I hope I never have to be that brave again." he chuckled.

"Tails little bro, way to go with that power! We just made it!" Sonic exclaimed. When Sonic didn't get a reply, everyone got confused. "Tails?" he asked again. Finally a voice came over the intercom. "Sonic, I think you better get down to engineering." Knuckles said sadly. Everyone looked at each other in horror, especially Sonic and Cream. "Oh no…" she whimpered. "Let's go!" Sonic rushed to the engineering deck, and what he saw when he got there, filled his heart with instant pain. "Tails?" he gasped. Now the others followed him in and saw Tails inside the radiation capsule.

Sonic looked around and saw Gemerl deactivated against the wall. Quickly Sonic went and reactivated the gizoid, who beeped to life and stood up. "Get him out of there fast!" Sonic ordered. Gemerl acknowledged and entered the capsule, his robotic body obviously immune to the radiation. Sonic closed the door behind the gizoid, who was now placing Tails on the floor. "Aw Tails, buddy." Sonic knelt down in front of the young fox, who opened his eyes and coughed a few times. The fox's fur was scorched and basically ruined, and his eyes were bloodshot, even his sweat and tears were red with blood from the strain his body was under just to breathe.

Tails looked around and saw Sonic and Cream kneeling over him, with everyone standing a little farther back. "Sonic…Cream…did…did we make it?" Tails coughed. "Yeah, we made it buddy, thanks to you." Sonic chuckled sadly. "Good…ugh, I-I feel awful…guess that's what happens when you jump head first into a radioactive…power converter." Tails chuckled weakly. "Don't worry Tails, we'll take care of you, you just rest and get better." Cream said softly. "Thanks Cream." Tails felt the young rabbit's hand gently stroking his and tried to sigh, but it came out as a violent cough. "Shh, shh. Relax Tails, everything will be ok." Cream said gently.

"Hey Sonic, can I ask a favor?" Tails rasped. "Name it." Sonic replied. "Kick Nazo in the can for me." Tails chuckled weakly and then went into another coughing fit. "You got it." Sonic laughed sadly. Tails smiled and let a blood-filled tear roll down his face before falling unconscious. "Isn't there anything we can do?" Cream asked. "I don't know…but if we don't find a cure for the poisoning, he won't last long." Amy replied. "Sonic, your call." Knuckles said. Sonic stood up and glared at the wall as if it was his enemy. "Nazo's gonna pay for this."  
_

**A/N: What kind of a monster am I? Am I REALLY killing off Tails? That is still up for grabs folks. Oh and uh, if there are any Star Trek fans out there, you may notice this scene from Star Trek 2 lol. But whether Tails dies like Spock did, that's up for grabs. Sit tight folks!**


	16. Trouble On the Typhoon

**Well here's the next chapter. Oh and uh...if anyone starts thinking about Star Trek while reading this...GOOD! xDD I own nothing except the story and Houdini the Sugar Glider.  
_**

"Sonic?" Blaze asked. No response. "Sonic?" she asked again. Ever since he left the engineering deck, Sonic had been silent, and he had continued giving everyone the cold shoulder as he piloted the slowly moving Blue Typhoon back to Earth. Then Cream walked in with Gemerl; the robot had been responsible for carrying Tails to the recovery ward. "Any change?" Blaze asked. "No, he isn't any better, but at least he isn't any worse either." Cream replied, rather sadly, "What are we going to do Blaze? What if we can't cure Tails?"

"You mustn't think that way. Stay positive Cream, that's what you do best." Blaze said. "But I don't know what to do to help him, what if he…he…" Cream refused to finish her sentence, just thinking about it brought tears to her eyes. "He won't Cream, just have faith, we WILL cure his illness." Blaze replied. Cream wiped her eyes and nodded, trying to find the strength to muster a smile. "Thank you Blaze." she sniffed.

"You're welcome. Go on and keep an eye on him, make sure you take care of whatever he needs." Blaze said. "Ok, I'll see you later." Cream hurried to the recovery ward to take care of Tails with Amy and Ashley. "You really think we'll find a cure?" Blaze turned around suddenly as she heard Sonic finally speak up. The cat girl hopped up to the pilot's seat and stood next to him. "You know what? This whole time I've been worried about Amy getting hurt…or worse…and in the end it's Tails who winds up getting hurt instead." Sonic said.

"Don't forget that you saved her from the vulgar fate that awaited her with Zero, you may be the fastest Sonic, but even you can't be everywhere at once. Tails did what he did by his own will, the same way you would've done it if it had been you in his place." Blaze said. "That's just it; it SHOULD'VE been me in his place." Sonic replied. "Quite honestly, I don't think you could've taken his place anyway. When Tails did what he did he knew exactly what he was doing, you wouldn't have known what to do." Blaze replied. "That doesn't exactly make me feel any better Blaze." Sonic said. "I'm merely speaking the truth." Blaze replied.

"Well I guess that old saying is true then. The truth hurts." Sonic sighed. "Sonic…remember I asked if we could discuss something?" Blaze asked. "Oh yeah, what was it you wanted to say?" Sonic asked, grateful for the change of topic. "I wanted to ask you…what do you think it means to 'like someone'? I never fully understood what that meant. I'm assuming that Amy feels that way about you, but it doesn't really make sense." Blaze said.

"Uh…well…boy you chose the wrong guy to ask, I don't know much about love and all that stuff, I never really thought about it." Sonic replied. "Well, then give me your opinion on it, maybe I can decipher it myself after." Blaze said. "Well I guess if anything, my idea of what love is is when you're willing to die for somebody. When you care enough for someone that you'd sacrifice your life in order to save theirs…like how Houdini pushed you out of the way and took Nazo's blast instead." Sonic explained.

"That made no sense either. He's only just met me, why would he put himself in mortal danger just to protect me?" Blaze wondered. "Maybe he cares about you, doesn't wanna see you get hurt." Sonic suggested. "When I saw him engulfed in that energy blast, I felt this…uneasiness inside of me…almost like despair…why?" Blaze asked. "Maybe you feel the same way. The same way he doesn't want you getting hurt, you don't want him getting hurt. The same way I don't want Amy getting hurt." Sonic trailed off as he finished his sentence.

"This is all so unfamiliar, these strange feelings I know nothing about, what should I do Sonic?" Blaze asked with confusion. "I guess…you should just do what you think feels right, rely on instinct, you know?" Sonic suggested. "I'm sure it sounds simpler than it really is." Blaze replied. "You're probably right. Love is complicated." Sonic laughed.

Just then, Amy came walking in. "Hey Sonic?" she asked. "Yeah Ames, what's up?" Sonic replied. "Knuckles sent me to tell you that the Sol Emeralds are acting kinda weird." Amy said. "Why didn't he just use the intercom?" Sonic asked.

"I almost suggested that, but ever since we left the Death Egg he's been a real pain in the butt to everyone. Probably because Nazo got his hands on the Master Emerald." Amy figured. "That's Knuckles for you." Sonic sighed. "It is understandable though, as the emerald's guardian it's only natural that he would be concerned." Blaze said. "At this point I think he's more concerned about Tikal than the emerald itself." Amy replied.

"You mean the girl you said was inside? Is this one of those 'love' things?" Blaze asked. "It might be, Knuckles isn't the easiest person to figure out." Amy replied. "Uh oh, buckle up gang, trouble ahead!" Sonic exclaimed. "What is it?" Blaze asked. "Dunno yet, but there's something out there! Amy, check out the sensors!" Sonic said. Amy hopped into one of the seats and activated the long range sensor. "Whatever's out there Sonic, there's more than one of them." Amy replied. "Eggman?" Sonic asked.

"The sensors show that they're all made of metal, and they're giving off a lot of power!" Amy exclaimed. "Metal Sonic!" Now Sonic could see the glowing yellow robot facing them, with a whole horde of blue doppelgangers backing it up. "This thing just won't quit." Sonic growled.

Sonic activated the red alert and hopped out of the captain's chair and almost ran off. "Where are you going?" Amy asked. "Activate the Sonic Power Cannon! I'm going out there to finish this!" Sonic yelled. "We can't Sonic! The Sol Emeralds aren't giving enough power to activate it!" Amy replied. "Well that's great…alright, time for the direct approach! Come on Blaze!" Sonic exclaimed. "What are you gonna do?" Amy asked. "Blaze and I are gonna take the Sol Emeralds and punch 'em out one by one!" Sonic exclaimed. "I'll go too!" Amy exclaimed.

"No Amy, stay here!" Sonic exclaimed. "Not this again Sonic, I am GOING this time, you need someone to fly you out there!" Amy insisted. After a moment of hesitation, Sonic nodded and allowed Amy to join them. They rushed into the engineering deck where Knuckles, Gemerl, and Houdini were busy keeping an eye on things. "What's going on out there?" Knuckles asked. "A whole mob of Metal Sonics outside the ship, Blaze and I are gonna take the emeralds and go fight 'em!" Sonic exclaimed. "What? Wait a second! Without the emeralds we have no power!" Knuckles yelled.

"We have enough to open the hangar deck, and then we can put the emeralds back after we're finished, Eggman's pulling out all the stops this time around!" Sonic exclaimed. Sonic took the emeralds from the power grid and the ship immediately powered down. "Anything you want us to do while you're out there?" Houdini asked. "Yeah, get to the recovery ward; if any of those Metal Sonics get past us, I want you guys there to protect Tails!" Sonic replied. "Will do, good luck, and be careful." Houdini said. "We will, thank you." Blaze and Sonic took off running.

"She's learning to love, she'll get there." Amy shrugged before taking off after them. In the hangar deck, Sonic and Blaze were waiting. "Come on Ames, no time to waste!" Sonic exclaimed. "I'm sorry but not ALL of us can move at the speed of sound." Amy replied. Amy hopped into the X-Tornado and started it up. "Here's hoping I remember what Tails taught me about flying this thing." Amy said. "Wait, you don't know?" Sonic exclaimed nervously. "I kinda do, it'll come back to me, no need to worry." Amy reassured.

"Somehow that makes me worry more." Sonic moaned. Amy pressed a button and the hangar deck opened. "Alright, two for two." Amy said. "Let's hope you stay batting a thousand Ames." Sonic said nervously. Amy pushed the throttle and the plane started moving with Sonic and Blaze standing on the wings. "I did it! Alright, now let's go get 'em!" Amy exclaimed excitedly. The X-Tornado blasted out of the hangar deck and was soon face to face with the blue hoard of robots, and one yellow one that had absorbed chaos energy.

"Alright Blaze, this is it!" Sonic and Blaze leaped up into the air and used the emeralds to power up, with Blaze in her Burning form and Sonic in his Fire form, the battle was going to be blazing in a matter of seconds. "Alright Ames, get back inside, we can take it from…Amy?" Sonic looked around and saw Amy flying around shooting lasers at the robots; one by one they were disabled by the pink hedgehog's barrage. "Amy, you'll get hurt!" Sonic yelled. "Let her help, she just wants to make sure you're ok too." Blaze took off and started fighting.

"Yeah but…" Sonic moaned, "Looks like I'll have to keep an eye on her." Sonic blasted off as well, fighting off robots as they came. A few got lucky and managed to get a hit off the burning hedgehog, but Sonic quickly recovered and destroyed the attacking robot after. Blaze also was on the attack, her Burning form was too much for the Metal Sonics to handle. Amy on the other hand, was not doing as well. Having to pilot the X-Tornado was hard enough, but doing so while in combat was a lot of pressure and it was starting to get to her. "I could use some help over here!" she cried.

"Hang on Ames, on my way!" Sonic blasted through a mob of robots and destroyed the ones that were harassing Amy. "Thanks Sonic." she sighed. "Now will you get inside?" he asked. "No way! They just got lucky that time!" Amy exclaimed determinedly. "You sure are stubborn." Sonic sighed. "Sounds like someone else we know." Amy replied cheekily. Blaze came up as well. "These robots don't seem to be putting up much effort." She commented. "Maybe they're tired of losing and they're just letting us beat 'em." Sonic snickered.

"Just letting…oh no!" Amy suddenly turned the X-Tornado around and flew towards the Typhoon, knocking Sonic and Blaze back by accident. "What was that all about?" Blaze asked. Just then, Sonic got a transmission on his communicator. "Mr. Sonic, Blaze!" he heard Cream cry. "Cream? What's wrong?" Sonic asked. "There's this yellow robot behind the Typhoon, and it's pushing us towards the Earth!" Cream shouted. Just then the transmission went dead, but not before they heard the panicked screams of a few of their friends. "Cream? Knux? Dash? Anyone?" Sonic looked back at the attacking horde that was now blocking the path between them and the Blue Typhoon.

"A trick! They wanted us to come out and fight!" Blaze hissed. "So they could try and take out the others while we were out here wasting our time! Come on!" Sonic and Blaze barreled through the robots, but they kept coming and blocking them, making Sonic quickly get irritated. "I don't have time for this, Amy's already over there!" he growled. Blaze suddenly grabbed Sonic by the wrist and wound up to throw him. "What are you doing?" Sonic exclaimed. "Go help her Sonic, I'll handle these robots!" Blaze launched Sonic through the robotic blockade, knocking them away like they were bowling pins.

Sonic immediately rushed towards the back of the Typhoon, but when he got there all he saw was scattered remains of metal. "Oh no…Amy?" he shouted in horror. "Looking for me?" Amy waved to the blazing hedgehog from above, which made Sonic sigh in relief. But then he remembered the transmission he had gotten from Cream, and he burst towards the inside of the Typhoon, where Knuckles, Gemerl, Dash, and the others were busy trying to hold off the super powered Metal Sonic and protect Tails. "And I thought he was tough before!" Houdini commented.

Finally the robot had enough and knocked everyone back, and then moved in on Tails. "Leave him alone!" Cream cried. Before the robot could finish Tails off, a loud and determined voice caused it to turn around. "Hey bolt brain! Pick on somebody your own power level!" Sonic grabbed the robot and forced it through the wall. "Subject: Sonic the Hedgehog. Threat level: Substantial. New objective: exterminate all organic life forms." Metal Sonic said in his monotone voice. "I'd like to see you try!" Sonic charged again, and burst a hole through the wall and sent both himself and Metal Sonic hurtling through space.

"Sonic!" Now Blaze and Amy were flanking the blazing hedgehog, Blaze and Amy had easily defeated the remainder of Metal Sonic's army, and were now ready to take down the leader. "Why don't you just give up?" Sonic exclaimed. "Primary objective has been completed; new objective will follow through in sequence. Returning to home base." Metal Sonic suddenly vanished, leaving the trio confused. "I honestly didn't think he'd listen." Sonic said. "He said his primary objective was completed, what do you think that meant?" Blaze asked.

Just then, another transmission came. "Sonic, get back here and put the emeralds back before we wind up getting blown to bits!" Knuckles roared. "What?" they exclaimed. Then they saw the Blue Typhoon beginning to hurtle towards the Earth with no way of stopping due to lack of power. "Come on!" Sonic, Amy, and Blaze hurried back to the hangar deck where Amy quickly landed and rushed to keep up with Sonic and Blaze.

Knuckles was there in the engineering deck waiting for them. "Hurry, hook 'em back up!" he yelled. Sonic and Blaze powered down and put the emeralds back in their place, but for some reason they weren't responding. "What's wrong?" Amy cried. The group looked around and spotted a loose connection. "There!" Sonic grabbed the loose wire and saw that the connection between it and the power converter had been severed in the attack. "What'll we do now?" Amy exclaimed.

Blaze then grabbed the emeralds and transformed back into her Burning form, and rushed to grab the severed wire. "Blaze, what are you doing?" Sonic exclaimed. Blaze grabbed the wire and rushed over to the power converter and placed her hand on it, and the cat shouted a cry as her system took a powerful shock, and everyone else gave a shout of surprise when the Typhoon suddenly roared to life.

"Is the Typhoon taking power directly from Blaze's body?" Amy exclaimed in shock. "Hurry! I don't know how long I can maintain this form!" Blaze shouted. "Got it Blaze, good luck!" Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles rushed out of the engineering deck, but then Houdini came rushing in to see how the Typhoon had gained the sudden power. "Blaze, what are you doing?" he shouted in horror.

"The…connection was severed…I'm reconnecting the emeralds to the power converter!" Blaze grunted. "Are you crazy? Do you have any idea what might happen to you?" Houdini shouted. "No…I don't…but I do know that if I don't do this…we'll all perish!" Blaze grunted again. "No, I won't let you kill yourself!" Houdini grabbed Blaze by the collar and started trying to pull her away, but again his lack of physical strength was against him as Blaze was able to fight back. "No, you mustn't!"

"What's going on down there?" Sonic yelled through the intercom. "Enough!" Blaze shoved Houdini back and knocked him to the floor, "I must do this!" she shouted. "But why risk your life like this? We can find something else to power the ship!" Houdini pleaded. Although she didn't visibly show it, Blaze was deeply touched by the glider's concern for her well-being. From the start of the whole adventure he had been trying to act as a guardian for her, even risking his life to save hers, the strange feeling in her heart had come back now, _"Just do what feels right." _Sonic's words came back to her now, and she followed the advice and said what her heart told her to, "You risked your life to save mine, and I am eternally grateful to you for that…now I must return the favor."

Houdini watched as Blaze pushed herself to her limit, and the engines of the Blue Typhoon responded and roared to life. "Hurry Sonic, we're getting close to the Earth's atmosphere!" Amy exclaimed. "I know, I know! Geez, what I wouldn't do to have Tails in this Captain's chair instead of me." Sonic groaned as he tried to level the Blue Typhoon and bring it in for a landing. "Hull temperature is at eight thousand degrees and climbing!" Amy exclaimed. "Wish I knew whether that was good or bad, with Blaze powering the ship there's no way to tell." Sonic mumbled.

"Hey, I've got a lot of blinkings and beepings here!" Crash exclaimed. The brown hedgehog had come in from the recovery ward to join the others on the Bridge. "What the heck are blinkings and beepings? Amy, check out his screen!" Sonic ordered. Amy nodded and pushed Crash out of his chair. "Sonic, the life support systems are starting to fail! The hull's temperature is making them freak out!" Amy hurried back to her station, "Temperature now at 8600 degrees and still climbing, and the heat shields are buckling!"

"Come on Blaze, hang in there!" Sonic yelled through the intercom, "Dash, think you can cool the place down with a little ice?" Sonic shouted. "I'll give it a shot!" Dash gathered up all his strength and summoned an icy blizzard that spread throughout the Blue Typhoon, and unfortunately, there was one crew member that was extremely sensitive to cold. "Oh no, who turned the A/C to freezing?" Houdini shivered violently. "What do ya got now Ames?" Sonic asked. "It did something! Hull temperature holding steady at 8700 degrees, but that's still really close to the danger zone!" Amy exclaimed.

"Keep it up Dash, you gotta keep that blizzard going or we'll be roasted! Knuckles, get down to engineering and see how Blaze is holding up!" Sonic yelled. "Got it!" Knuckles hurried to the engineering deck. "This screen says thirty seconds, what's that mean?" Crash exclaimed. Amy hurried to Crash's station and pushed him off again. "Could you NOT do that?" he asked indignantly. "Sorry." Amy pipped, "We're almost past the atmosphere Sonic! Twenty-five seconds to reentry!"

"So…cold…" Houdini was almost down on his hands and knees as the bitter cold chilled his frail body to the bone. Blaze felt sorry for the glider, watching him suffer hurt her more than she thought it would. "Come over here Houdini, hold onto me." She grunted. Despite how difficult it was for her to be solely responsible for the Blue Typhoon's power, she just couldn't bear to watch the marsupial just freeze to death. Houdini slowly hobbled over to the blazing cat, but the cold had already affected his motor skills. Houdini fell down onto his hands and knees, reaching a half-frozen hand out towards Blaze before falling unconscious. "No, I can't let him die!" Blaze felt the flames inside her soul grow into a mighty inferno, as she summoned said flames to try and warm the glider.

"Whoa! The power just went through the roof! The heat shields are back on and the hull temperature is dropping!" Amy exclaimed. "Way to go Blaze!" Sonic exclaimed. "Five seconds to reentry! Three, two, one!" The Typhoon rumbled as it finally made it past the atmosphere, and was now safe to land wherever it was told. "We made it!" Amy cheered. The crew of the Blue Typhoon cheered, however the engineering deck was once again quiet. "Come on, come on!" Blaze was still exerting more and more power in an attempt to warm her friend and save him from death.

Another red alert sounded in the ship, shocking everyone. "Now what?" Crash exclaimed. "We're overloading!" Amy exclaimed. "Blaze, you can relax a little now! Take it easy!" Sonic exclaimed. But the power continued to rise, and the Typhoon started to whine from the stress. "Blaze!" Sonic roared. Knuckles finally reached the engineering deck and immediately got blasted by a wave of heat. "Why's it so hot in here?" he roared. He hurried inside and saw Houdini on the ground and Blaze straining her body to the max. "Blaze, we made it, you can stop!" Knuckles yelled.

"He can't die! He won't die!" Blaze replied. Blaze continued the heat wave, not knowing exactly what she was doing in the attempt to save the glider. Knuckles grabbed the glider by his underarms and carried him over to Blaze so he could get a nice dose of heat, within seconds the marsupial regained consciousness. "Blaze, are you ok?" he asked. Hearing his voice made her suddenly look up; she looked into his gentle light-blue eyes and immediately calmed down. "You're alive!" she said. The red alert stopped sounding again, and the echidna put Houdini down. "Are you ok?" Houdini asked.

Blaze sighed with relief, "Yes, I'm alright. And I'm pleased that you are too." she said. "Yeah, thanks for the save." Houdini replied. "Well we made it, now we just have to land." Knuckles said. "What a relief." Blaze sighed. Finally Sonic managed to land the Blue Typhoon in a nearby clearing, allowing Blaze to power down and relax. "You feel ok?" Houdini asked. "A little drained, but fine." Blaze replied. The group exited the Typhoon to try and determine their location. "Any idea where we are?" Sonic asked. "I dunno, I'm surprised I was able to understand as much as I did." Amy replied.

"Wait…this looks familiar." Knuckles looked into the distance and saw a tall structure peeking through the forest. "That's the ancient Echidna Temple! We're near the Mystic Ruins. Angel Island should be in that direction unless Nazo already placed the emerald back on the altar." Knuckles said, pointing off in the distance.

Then Cream and Ashley walked out with Tails on a cot, the fox still unconscious and obviously growing weaker as time went on. "We don't have much time." Ashley said. Sonic clenched his fist and cursed under his breath, but then an idea came to his mind. "Knuckles…could the Master Emerald cure Tails?" he asked. "It might, but since Nazo's got the emerald there's no way to try." Knuckles replied.

"He won't have it for long." Sonic got ready to take off again, when Amy stopped him. "Where are you going?" she asked. "I'm going after the Master Emerald, I'll use Chaos Control to warp it to you guys, and then Knuckles can cure Tails. After that…I'll hold off Nazo long enough for you guys to think of another plan." Sonic replied. "But…that's suicide." Amy squeaked. "Come on Sonic, there's gotta be something else we can do." Knuckles added. "Like what? Tails won't last much longer, and I'm the only one who can get there fast enough." Sonic replied.

"Fine, then you go on ahead, we'll catch up!" Dash suggested. "I like that idea! At least we'll be able to back you up!" Amy added. This time…Sonic was glad to have the help. "Thanks guys." Sonic said. The group nodded at him. "Alright Nazo, we're coming for you!" the group took off running with Dash and Crash carrying Tails on the cot. "What do you think Dash? Can we do it?" Crash asked. "This is bigger than anything we've ever done…all I can say is that we go big or go home."


	17. Betrayed

**My apologies to all of my Pokemon readers, but I do have a second commitment to create the Dash Adventure. Oh yeah! The trailer is up! If you wanna see it, check it out on youtube by searching up the Dash Adventure trailer! Anyways, what happens next? Read and find out!  
_**

The group reached the cliff where the rope bridge used to be, and saw that Angel Island was indeed still within reach, however several members of the party had no way of crossing. "So…how do we get there?" Crash asked. "Well there USED to be a bridge, but Blaze burned it." Knuckles said. "It was an accident…but in my defense it was badly constructed anyway." Blaze mumbled.

"This can't be the end of the line, no way we're gonna get stopped because a stupid bridge broke down." Amy said. "I've got an idea!" Dash exclaimed. Dash summoned his ice powers and created a small bridge that hung over the chasm. "Everyone follow me!" Dash exclaimed as he took off running, making sure to add more to the bridge as he went.

"Way to go Dasher!" Ashley exclaimed. "Alright everyone, let's cross!" Sonic exclaimed. Sonic took off running, and after Cream helped Amy strap Tails to Gemerl's back, the rest of the group started running across Dash's ice bridge as well, with the exception of a certain pyrokinetic.

"Come on Blaze!" Cream called out. Blaze cautiously put her foot on the bridge, but quickly pulled back when it started to sizzle. "I can't cross; I'll destroy the bridge again!" Blaze exclaimed. By this time everyone else had already crossed. "Come on Blaze, you're the last one! Who cares if it melts?" Sonic exclaimed.

Blaze sighed and got ready to run, "Here goes nothing." Blaze took off like a shot, but as feared, the bridge began to melt underneath her feet. Luckily the cat was fast enough to get across before the bridge gave way, and the group continued their quest for the shrine. "I can sense the Master Emerald, we're almost there." Knuckles said.

"Alright everyone, be on your guard, Nazo or Eggman could be anywhere." Sonic said. Just then, a creature appeared out of nowhere, laughing at the group who was caught off guard. "It's you! The guy who turned me brown!" Crash yelled angrily.

"It seems your friends are hard of hearing, I am not responsible for your alteration, the molecular creatures of the Negative Zone are." Khanali said. "Who cares what what did to who? It wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you!" Crash yelled.

"Touché. However I do have a solution. How badly do you want to be changed back?" Khanali asked enticingly. "Uh, pretty badly!" Crash replied. "I'm sure that given the proper amount of time I could reverse the process." Khanali said.

"What's the catch?" Crash asked. "No catch…there is however, a condition." Khanali replied. "And what's that?" Crash asked. "You must join the doctor, Nazo, and myself in our quest to conquer the world!" Khanali exclaimed.

"Wait, you're working with Eggman?" Sonic growled. "Of course, I assisted the doctor in Nazo's rebirth, my world seems to be of more use than I ever imagined." Khanali replied, "So what is your answer hedgehog?"

"I'm not a bad guy! Forget it!" Crash replied. "How typical. I was so hoping that there would be at least one fickle member in your group." Khanali sighed, "What a pity, I suppose now I'll simply have to annihilate you; I can't very well allow you to interfere with our plans."

"You're nuts if you think you can take us all on!" Dash exclaimed. "Perhaps if we were still in my world, you'd be correct. But now that I'm back here in the real world my full strength has been restored!" Khanali exploded in a blazing hot burst of flame, laughing maniacally as the group watched him.

"So you see my dear cryokinetic, the tables have turned!" Khanali chortled. "Well that's great, but you have to deal with all of us, not just him!" Ashley exclaimed. "As unfortunate as it is, my orders are not to destroy you, merely to delay you. And so without further ado, I bid you all farewell. Who knows? Perhaps we'll get lucky and you'll all die anyway." Khanali vanished into thin air, and suddenly Metal Sonic appeared, his super form apparently gone. "Oh no, not again!" Amy exclaimed.

Metal Sonic once again cloned himself and created a whole army of robots, but this time there were so many robots that they were able to easily surround the whole group, and there seemed to be no end to the sea of metal Then the original warped away, leaving them to face the army. "This is gonna be a big one!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Geez, it doesn't look like it's ever gonna end!" Sonic added.

"Mr. Sonic, we can't stay and fight all these robots; Tails may not be able to stay alive for much longer!" Cream exclaimed worriedly. It was then that a certain hedgehog made a bold decision. "Go on you guys!" Dash exclaimed.

"What?" Sonic exclaimed in shock. "Get to the Master Emerald! We'll hold off these robots while you hurry and cure Tails!" Dash declared. "We can't take them all, are you crazy?" Crash yelled. "Maybe I am, but hey, you were the one who wanted an adventure." Dash replied.

"Yeah but…" Crash was cut off. "Get going Sonic!" Dash yelled. After a few moments of hesitation, Sonic nodded, "Good luck you three, when you're done with these guys, come and find us at the shrine, we'll be playing volleyball with Eggman as the ball." Sonic chuckled.

"You got it!" Dash exclaimed. "Alright guys, let's blaze a trail!" Sonic yelled. Knuckles slammed his fists together and barreled through the mob of robots, creating a small path for the group to follow. "Let's go!" the group followed the echidna through the robot ocean and made it past them, and quickly rushed towards the shrine, leaving Dash, Crash, and Ashley to fight for themselves.

Now the trio were back to back with each other, Dash with his cryokinesis at full power, Crash with his plasma saber drawn, and Ashley's amulet glowing with a mystical power. "Hey Dash, if we get out of this alive, can you do me a favor?" Crash asked. "What is it Crash?" Dash replied. "Remind me to tell you that I hate you for this." Crash said.

"Sure bro, sure." Dash laughed. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you that I was proud of you for stepping up so much, I think we've bitten off more than we can chew!" Ashley exclaimed. The robots started closing in on the trio now. "Hey Ash, there's something I've always wanted to say to you but…I could never build up the courage to tell you." Dash said. "What is it Dasher?" Ashley asked. "I…I lo-…" Dash was abruptly cut off when the robots right in front of them suddenly went flying everywhere. "Shadow!" Ashley exclaimed.

"What are YOU doing here?" Dash asked, resentment for the black hedgehog still evident in his voice. "I figured you could use some help." Shadow replied. "Oh yeah? Why the sudden change of heart?" Dash asked suspiciously. "I made a promise to someone a long time ago, and I intend to keep that promise. And besides, the person I made that promise to would want me to make things right." Shadow replied, "Now get going!"

"Are you sure you can take them all on your own?" Ashley asked. Shadow just smirked, "You obviously don't know me as well as you thought you did." he said coolly. "Come on, we're wasting time! Let's get the heck out of here before he changes his mind or something!" Crash took off running. "Thanks Shadow!" Ashley ran as well.

Finally it was just Dash and Shadow. The two hedgehogs stared each other down for a moment, but then the Metal Sonics began closing in on them again. "Well go on! She's gonna need your help too!" Shadow yelled. Dash smirked and gave a thumbs up, "You're alright Shadow!" Dash took off running at last, leaving Shadow on his own.

As the robots drew closer, Shadow's smirk remained. "Mindless drones…you have no idea what you're up against." Shadow twisted off his power rings and let them fall to the floor. The robots were now a mere few feet away from the hedgehog. "So I guess I'll just have to show you." Shadow rushed forward with energy bursting from his body, the black hedgehog easily bowled over all of the robots that attempted to attack him. Once Shadow's initial power strike wore off, Shadow began warping all over the place, bashing every robot that came his way. No robot stood a chance against the ultimate lifeform, as he rampaged through them.

Finally after a long battle, Shadow went back and put on his power rings. Little did he know that he had someone watching him. "Bravo, bravo. I must say that was quite a performance." Khanali applauded. "You." Shadow growled. "Well my dear Shadow, I have already completed my mission, so perhaps now would be a good time for that test of power!" Khanali got into battle-ready stance. "You'll regret this." Shadow also got into battle-ready stance. The two opposing warriors met in extremely fast paced hand to hand combat. Shadow and Khanali seemed to be in a stalemate as neither one of them were able to keep the other down for more than a few moments. "Impressive Shadow, but I think it's time I got serious about this." Khanali suddenly erupted in a burst of flame, and began raining blazing meteors on the black hedgehog.

Shadow was caught off guard for a moment, but quickly regained his senses and charged forward, dodging the rain of meteors on his way to attack Khanali again. Shadow leaped up to meet Khanali in the air and punch him, but the wolf merely chuckled as a meteor suddenly struck Shadow and knocked him down to the ground. Shadow sat up after being pounded and shook his head, just as Khanali descended back down to laugh at Shadow. "But how?" Shadow growled. "A test of power. You had no chance." Khanali replied. "You might be stronger for now, but there's more to being the ultimate life form than strength. It also takes quick thinking!" Shadow leaped up and struck Khanali with his strongest kick and knocked the wolf backwards.

Then before Khanali could recover, Shadow rushed for the Emerald Shrine. "He'll pay for making a fool out of me." Khanali also rushed for the shrine, he knew there would be bad repercussions if Shadow were to get there before him, and Shadow knew that he had to hurry to stop what he knew was going to happen.

Sonic and Co. were stealthily making their way to the Emerald Shrine, where Eggman, Nazo, and Metal Sonic were waiting. "There they are." Knuckles growled. Just then, Dash, Crash, and Ashley showed up behind them, and Sonic gave them a thumbs-up. "What's the plan?" Ashley asked quietly. Blaze and I will make a distraction; we gotta keep Nazo's attention on us while Knuckles takes Tails to the Master Emerald and cures him." Sonic replied. "Sonic, that plan only takes care of Nazo. Eggman and Metal Sonic are still there." Blaze replied. "We can handle them!" Amy exclaimed quietly.

"Amy I…ok, you take everyone else and keep Eggman and Metal Sonic busy." Sonic thought for a second about how his hesitation in letting her help had in fact put her in more danger than just trusting her, and decided to give in. "Thanks Sonic!" Amy replied. "I'm counting on you Ames, don't let me down." Sonic said. "I won't, I promise." Amy replied. "Alright, let's go guys. Knuckles…take care of Tails." Sonic said. Knuckles nodded and slung Tails over his shoulder, and began climbing up the shrine wall in order to remain undetected.

"At last! The Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald all in one place! And thanks to Khanali and Metal Sonic, there's no one to interfere with my plan." Eggman chortled. "Have you forgotten that if it weren't for me, your plan wouldn't even exist?" Nazo asked. "Of course not, you shall have your promised reward: A female to repopulate your species. As soon as the world is mine, I shall have one captured for you." Eggman replied.

"No." Nazo said. "What?" Eggman asked. "Not just any female. I must have the pink one. I must make Sonic watch her suffer. It's the only vengeance better than killing him." Nazo said. "Very well, if that's what you want, however we both know that Sonic is not the type to just stand still and watch it happen, how do you intend to keep him from interfering?" Eggman asked. "Not to worry, I have…" Nazo suddenly stopped talking. "You have what Nazo?" Eggman asked. "Shh, I sense them…they're here." Nazo said. "Excellent. Metal Sonic, prepare yourself." Eggman chortled. "Order acknowledged." Metal Sonic replied.

Nazo then appeared in front of Sonic and Blaze, shocking the two. "Going somewhere?" Nazo grabbed Sonic and Blaze and spun around in a circle, and then the chaos being threw them back down to the ground. The two fighters rebounded and grimaced at the evil hedgehog. "I must admit I find it pleasing that you're still alive Sonic." Nazo chortled. "And why's that?" Sonic asked. "Because now I can destroy you with my bare hands!" Nazo grabbed Sonic and dragged him against the ground before finally swooping back into the air and tossing him down again. "What's wrong Sonic? Not fast enough?" Nazo chortled.

Sonic got back up and sneered at the silver hedgehog. "You think you're so powerful, you think that your new powers will give you what you want? Well I got news for you pal, it's time we showed you what we're really made of!" Blaze ran next to Sonic, and the Sol Emeralds encircled them both, feeding their power into the bodies of the two fighters.

With a hot burst of flame, Blaze transformed into Burning Blaze, and Sonic into Fire Sonic. "Let's party!" And so Sonic and Blaze teamed up to battle against Nazo. Meanwhile, Amy was leading the rest of the fighters to Eggman. "Explain to me why we're letting the twelve year old tell us what to do?" Crash whispered. "Because Sonic put her in charge. Besides, it's not like YOU could do any better." Ashley replied.

"Ok, we gotta get Eggman and Metal Sonic away from the shrine so Knuckles can use the emerald to cure Tails." Amy said. "You want a distraction? Watch this." Dash snickered. Dash stealthily climbed up the stairs of the shrine. "What's he up to now?" Ashley wondered.

Dash crawled up the last steps and held out his hand, and launched a small chunk of ice down Eggman's shirt. Eggman started howling as he tried to get the freezing object out of his clothing. "Who did that?" Eggman growled. Dash revealed himself and stuck his tongue out at the doctor before running off.

"That hedgehog is almost as annoying as Sonic!" Eggman pressed a button, and with a brief flash of light, his hovercraft transformed into the familiar Egg Walker. "Come Metal Sonic; let's teach that infuriating newcomer what happens when he messes with the greatest scientific genius in the world!" Eggman exclaimed. Eggman got his walker going, and the robotic hedgehog leaped onto the Master Emerald and powered up into a golden super form in order to attack. Once Metal Sonic was gone, Knuckles climbed over the wall and got to the Master Emerald. "Alright Tails…just hang on a few seconds longer." Knuckles said.

"Get back here!" Eggman yelled. Dash ducked around a large rock, and when Eggman and Metal Sonic followed, they found themselves face to face with a whole team of fighters, led by a pink twelve year old with a huge hammer. "Hiya Eggman." Amy said. "I guess I'm supposed to be intimidated right? Well think again!" Eggman snapped his fingers, and once again Metal Sonic created clones of itself and surrounded the group. "Uh oh." Amy said. "And now my dear girl, you have a rather insistent invitation from Nazo to join him." Eggman said. "Oh no, I know what he wants! He can forget it!" Amy exclaimed.

"I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter. Capture her!" Eggman ordered. The clone Metal Sonics attacked again, but this time the group was ready for them. Ashley and Gemerl drove the robots crazy with their unique strengths, now that they had fought them a whole bunch of times already, they knew what to expect of them and had no trouble disposing of them. "Cream, Spin Cycle!" Amy exclaimed. Cream grabbed Amy by the hand and flew up, and also grabbed Crash who was surprised to suddenly be levitated. "H-hey! What do you think you're doing?" he asked.

"Just get your sword out and don't fight what's about to happen! Now Cream!" Cream grunted as she gained a bit more altitude and began spinning and then the young rabbit sent Amy and Crash spinning like tops, with their respective weapons doing the job for them as they bashed a mob of robots. When the attack was finished, Crash's eyes were spinning around in his head. "Ugh…is abusing me like some sort of hobby for you now?" Crash asked dizzily. "Quit your whining and fight." Amy went back to fighting off robots while Crash had to get whacked by one before getting back in the fight. "Ok that's it."

Meanwhile, Dash and Houdini were driving Eggman crazy. "Stand still you confounded rodents!" he roared, as his walker continued to shoot at them. But Houdini's quickness was too much for the walker to handle, as he was easily able to avoid all blasts, while Dash was busy running around throwing ice cubes down Eggman's back. "You look a little chilly!" Dash laughed. "Metal Sonic!" Eggman roared. The super powered robot appeared by Eggman's side and immediately caused Dash and Houdini to stop in their tracks. "Attack!" Eggman ordered. Metal Sonic immediately acknowledged and managed to take down both Dash and Houdini in a snap, and then the super robot went after the others. "Oh no…help!" Amy cried.

Meanwhile, Knuckles was busy preparing the Master Emerald for its job. "The servers are the seven chaos…chaos is power…power is enriched by the heart…the controller is the one…" Knuckles suddenly heard a loud crash, and he stopped his chant to see Amy and the others in serious trouble thanks to the super powered robot attacking them. "Oh great." he grumbled. Knuckles looked around for Sonic, but he and Blaze were apparently keeping Nazo at bay still. The echidna looked at Tails, and then back out at his other friends. Then he growled and turned towards the emerald. "Tikal, I know you're in there, if you can hear me, please take care of Tails for me, I've gotta make sure the others don't die." Knuckles summoned the power of the Chaos Emeralds, and in a flash of light, his pigmentation turned pink as he transformed into his super form.

When Knuckles took off, the emerald began glowing faintly, and Tails' body began getting gently touched by the emerald's energy. "Now that we've taken care of the others, capture the girl!" Eggman exclaimed. Amy tried to attack the robot, but her hammer merely bounced off the super powered robot's body and shocked her with electricity, forcing the hammer out of her hands and knocking her onto her back. When Metal Sonic moved in to take her, Knuckles appeared and bashed the robot away with a hard shoulder charge. "Now what?" Eggman roared. Knuckles continued to combo attack the super powered robot, and finally bashed it down.

"Of course, if it isn't one thing it's another." Eggman groaned. Just as Eggman finished grumbling, Amy came and smashed his head with her hammer, and the rest of the team finished off the clones. "Your move Eggman." Amy said. Then the group heard a crushing blow, and Knuckles came flying down and made a crater in the ground. "Knuckles!" Amy cried. Metal Sonic charged a blast of energy that it was about to use to destroy the guardian…when suddenly a different blast of energy came from the opposite direction that took down Metal Sonic. "What was that?" Amy asked. The group looked up and saw a fox with two tails, glowing brightly with energy. "Tails!" the group cheered.

"Thanks Tikal." Knuckles sighed. Then Sonic and Blaze finally combined to take down Nazo and knock him down to the ground next to Eggman. "What's the matter? Got nothing left?" Sonic laughed. "Drat, it seems we'll have to proceed sooner than expected. Go Nazo!" Eggman ordered. Nazo warped away and reappeared on top of the Master Emerald. "The time has come for me to reclaim the power I once possessed!" Nazo exclaimed. "No!" Sonic yelled. It was too late, the power of the emeralds was already feeding into Nazo's body, transforming him, strengthening him, the island became shrouded in darkness as Nazo powered up.

Then with a burst of darkness, Nazo emerged as Perfect Nazo. "Ahh, it feels so good to be back." he chortled. "You won't have much time to enjoy it!" Sonic growled. Sonic, Knuckles, and Blaze all charged forward to attack the monster, while Tails was forced to stay back since the power the Master Emerald had given him had worn off. "Oh boy…looks like I'm not strong enough to maintain a super form without the Super Emeralds yet." he said. "Pitiful fools, you obviously don't realize just how much raw power you're about to face. Allow me to show you." Nazo vanished and reappeared behind the three warriors. When they moved to try and attack, Nazo stopped time with Chaos Control, and blasted them all with an ultra-powerful blast of negative chaos energy.

Sonic, Knuckles, and Blaze all hit the ground hard, their powered up forms gone. "Just what is this hedgehog?" Blaze groaned. "He's no hedgehog, he's a monster." Sonic growled. "Excellent Nazo, you have them on the ropes! Now…finish them! And together we shall begin building the glorious Eggman Empire!" Eggman laughed. But Nazo didn't respond. "Um, excuse me, I ordered you to finish them!" Eggman repeated. Now the group members were all looking at each other in confusion. "What are you waiting for? Smash them!" Eggman roared. "This power…it's incredible…I can feel the energy coursing through my body…I must be the most powerful being in this or any universe…and as such, I need not take orders from anyone." Nazo turned towards Eggman and prepared a powerful blast.

"W-What are you doing?" Eggman asked. "Change of plans doctor, with all the power I possess, it is no longer necessary for me to breed an army, I can take control of the universe on my own!" Nazo replied. Nazo fired and forced Eggman to leap out of his walker before it was destroyed. "How dare you? I am the one that gave you life!" Eggman roared. "Oh yes master, I am eternally grateful, but the time has come for me to move on. I am freeing myself of my debt to you." Nazo replied. "You don't expect us to just stand by and let you take over do you?" Sonic growled. "I expect you to perish! But first…I think I will take advantage of my surroundings, and increase my power even further." Nazo moved back towards the Master Emerald to increase the power of the Chaos Emeralds, and turn them into Super Emeralds. "We mustn't let him get any stronger!" Blaze said.

"But how can we stop him? He's already too strong as it is!" Amy exclaimed. Just then before Nazo could use the Master Emerald, a figure of black appeared from nowhere and shattered the Master Emerald. "No, Tikal!" Knuckles yelled. Then the figure warped the shattered pieces away before Nazo could react. "What?" he growled. But then, another figure appeared and kicked Shadow off of the shrine and into the ground. "Khanali, excellent! Quickly, Nazo's gone out of control, we must stop him!" Eggman exclaimed. "Oh he has, has he?" Khanali asked. Khanali glanced over at Nazo, and then back at Eggman. The wolf sneered at the doctor and then glanced back at Nazo. "I like to be on the winning team, and in this case, the one who's winning is Nazo. So I think it's time we said farewell doctor, but rest assured, it's been an honor working with you." Khanali said.

"You…you traitor!" Eggman roared. "One cannot call one a traitor, if said person was never loyal to begin with." Khanali replied. "I like your style Khanali. Such deceptiveness is admirable in a true villain. Very well, you may join me in my mission of universal conquest." Nazo said. "Thank you sir, I am honored." Khanali replied. "Metal Sonic!" Eggman roared. Metal Sonic beeped back to life and attacked Nazo and Khanali. "Allow me master." Khanali said. The wolf pulled out a remote control and pressed the button, and suddenly Metal Sonic stopped, and turned around. "Manual override system activated." Metal Sonic beeped. The robot blasted a missile at Eggman, and the doctor was forced to dive out of the way and wound up joining the other group members.

"What's going on?" Eggman asked. "You're such a bumbler. You were so impressed with my renovations to your pitiful machine that you didn't even bother to examine it. Should you have done so, you may have noticed that I had installed a manual override chip inside of Metal Sonic's CPU. Of course then again, you may not have, you're such a fool that you might've thought it was just an extra part meant for decoration." Khanali chortled. "Excellent work Khanali. And now, for Shadow." Nazo warped over to Shadow, who was just now getting up after being kicked by Khanali.

"You insolent little worm!" Nazo grabbed Shadow by the throat and held him pinned down against the ground. "Where did you send them?" he demanded. "Someplace you'll never find them!" Shadow croaked. "Tell me NOW!" Nazo slammed Shadow against the floor again, invoking a grunt of agony from the black hedgehog. "Y-You'll never get your hands on the emerald Nazo! Never! N-Never!" Shadow was about to pass out from lack of oxygen, but Nazo continued to squeeze. "You WILL tell me, whether you know it or not." Nazo placed his free hand on Shadow's head, and the chaos energy being closed his eyes as if searching for something. "What's he doing?" Crash asked.

Then Nazo opened his eyes, and shoved Shadow down to the ground. "You've only delayed the inevitable. I shall return with all the pieces of the Master Emerald. And then…revenge." Nazo raised his hand and disappeared from sight with Khanali and Metal Sonic. The group hurried over to Shadow to check on him, with the exception of Sonic who had stayed back to give Tails a playful noogie. "Good to see ya back on your feet buddy." Sonic said. "Thanks Sonic, but we don't have time to celebrate, let's take care of Shadow first." Tails replied. Sonic nodded and also hurried over to Shadow, who seemed out of sorts after Nazo's attack.

"You idiot! Tikal was in there! You may have killed her!" Knuckles roared. "Chill out Knuckles! Hey Shadow, you ok?" Amy asked. "He…h-he did something…he…probed my mind…reached into my thoughts…" Shadow mumbled, holding his head in shock. "Shadow, what did Nazo find?" Ashley asked. "I transported the pieces of the Master Emerald to another dimension…HER dimension." Shadow pointed to Blaze. "You mean that monster is currently running around MY world? I can't let that happen!" Blaze exclaimed. "We won't! We're gonna go to Blaze's dimension and get the pieces of the Master Emerald before Nazo will even get the chance to lay a hand on one!" Sonic exclaimed.

"And how do you propose we get there?" Eggman asked. The group turned around and saw Eggman standing behind them. "What do you mean WE? It's YOUR fault all this happened!" Crash yelled. "Calm yourself…what was your name again?" Eggman asked. "Crash! And that's Dash and Ashley! And we're gonna kick your can from here to wherever it is you came from!" Crash went to attack Eggman when Dash and Ashley held him back. "C'mon, lemme at him!" Crash snarled. "Cool it Crash." Dash said. "You have some sort of plan Eggman?" Tails asked. "I do indeed. Since we're going to the cat girl's dimension, I suggest that she use her own form of Chaos Control to get us to her dimension, where we can then proceed to search for the Master Emerald shards." Eggman replied.

"Of course! Sol Control!" Blaze exclaimed. "But wait, why are you helping us Eggman?" Knuckles asked suspiciously. "I'll tell ya why. Since his plan backfired again he's making sure he saves his own tail by joining the good side." Sonic snickered. "How dare you propose that? I merely wish to get revenge on Nazo and Khanali for double-crossing me!" Eggman replied. "Whatever you say Eggman." Sonic laughed. "Alright, so let's go! We've got an emerald to find!" Amy exclaimed. "I can't wait to see Blaze's dimension!" Cream exclaimed excitedly. "Wait; let's take the emeralds with us. That way we have some extra power on our side, and that way I can get revenge on Khanali." Shadow said. "(Sigh) So much revenge and anger, I hope SOMEBODY has a noble motive." Ashley said. "Alright Blaze, take us out of here." Sonic said. Blaze nodded and held up her hand and allowed the Sol Emeralds to encircle it. "Sol…Control!" In a flash of fire, the whole group vanished.

"Shadow you imbecile…I don't have enough power to sense the pieces of the Master Emerald." Nazo growled. "Hey, what's that on the beach?" Khanali pointed out. The trio walked over to the sand and saw someone passed out on the beach. "What have we here?" Nazo wondered. "Metal Sonic, analysis." Khanali ordered. Metal Sonic beeped a few times before giving its report. "Subject: Echidna. Gender: Female. Age: Approximately fourteen to fifteen years old." Metal Sonic replied. "So, she must be the one who stopped me from taking the Master Emerald before." Nazo said. Just then, the figure began to stir, and opened her eyes to see the trio standing over her. "Who are you…who am I?"  
_

**A/N: Come on, you guys didn't REALLY think I'd kill off Tails did you? However...this story isn't over yet. A new factor has just been added. Tikal the Echidna, but she doesn't remember anything. What will Nazo do to her? Stay tuned to find out.**


	18. Discoveries Are Made

**Well here's the next chapter, to all my Pokemon readers, I PROMISE that the next AAML chapter is what I'll work on next ok? So bear with me! And anyway, now we're in Blaze's dimension, and Nazo is on the hunt for the emeralds.  
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"Oy, it's been bloomin' boring ever since Blaze and the others disappeared. A girl can only hunt for sea glass for so long." that was the voice of a young raccoon girl who was combing the beach for something interesting, it had been forever since Eggman Nega had tried to pull anything, so Marine was absolutely bored without her friends around. "I wonder if I build a ship that can sail long distances, I can find everyone." Marine pondered that for a few moments, but then she saw something shine in the water. "What's that?" Marine waded in the shallow water and looked around for what had caught her eye, and saw two dark blue orbs floating in the water. "What in the world are those?" Marine reached down to touch them, when the orbs suddenly moved, and a figure began to emerge from the water. Marine backtracked and fell into the water in fear, "W-W-What are you?" she stammered.

The figure looked around without answering her, and then looked down towards Marine. "N-N-N-Now listen you, I know an elite team of special operatives that'll come and knock you down, so you better just stay back!" Marine exclaimed. The figure stared at the terrified raccoon for a few moments before looking up into the sky and walking out of the water and onto dry land. "Hey, you lookin' for something?" Marine asked, the raccoon now more curious than scared after the creature showed no hostile intentions. The creature turned around and stared at Marine again, and suddenly Marine grabbed her head in shock. "W-W-What's happening?" Marine then closed her eyes for a few moments, and then opened her eyes in realization. "So…your name is…Chaos?"

"We're here." Blaze said. Immediately Cream's eyes lit up when she saw the gorgeous ocean in front of her. "What a beautiful beach!" she exclaimed. "Yes I suppose it is." Blaze smiled slightly at the young girl's reaction to her world. "Alright Knux, you're the expert, where do we start?" Sonic asked. "I can sense pieces everywhere. Apparently Shadow's job of destroying the emerald was QUITE thorough." Knuckles growled. "I did what was necessary." Shadow replied simply. "So we split up again?" Dash asked. "Looks like that's our best bet." Sonic replied.

"Excellent. I shall go and begin searching." Eggman said. "Not so fast Eggman, you don't really think we're just gonna let you wander off on your own do you? Tails, you go with Eggman and keep an eye on him." Sonic said. "You don't trust me Sonic? You wound me." Eggman said. "After all the stuff you tried to do with Amy, you're surprised?" Sonic asked incredulously. "Still holding onto that grudge are you? You must care more than you think you do." Sonic turned away and hid his face from everyone, while Amy just blushed slightly. "Well no matter. I'll honor your conditions, as long as I get my vengeance on Nazo and Khanali for their treachery." Eggman said.

"Fine. Get going you two." Sonic grumbled. Tails and Eggman walked off in search of emerald shards. "I think I'll go with them, those two will probably be the least annoying out of all of you." Shadow followed the two geniuses into the shrubbery behind them. "You don't wanna go with him?" Dash asked the purple hedgehog. "Nah, I think I'll stay and keep an eye on you two knuckleheads." Ashley playfully bumped into the black and blue hedgehog, which provoked him to playfully bump back. "Barfaroni and cheese. I liked it better when you hated each other." Crash said.

"I think it's really nice!" Cream exclaimed. "Shuddup kid." Crash grumbled. "Alright, let's settle down. I'll take Cream and go look in the old ruins." Blaze said. "Old ruins? Awesome! Let's check it out!" Crash exclaimed. "Guess we know who we're going with." Ashley laughed. "And I'll go too." Houdini added. "Then I'll go with Sonic and Knuckles." Amy added. "Come on, we're wasting time! Nazo may have already found Tikal by now!" Knuckles exclaimed. "I thought we were looking for the Master Emerald, Mr. Knuckles." Cream said innocently. "W-Well we're looking for that too!" Knuckles stammered.

"Alright, let's go!" Sonic exclaimed. So the group took off running in all directions, in search of the pieces of the Master Emerald, and a young echidna girl who Knuckles was sure was somewhere in the area. "Why can't I remember who I am?" the young echidna girl continued to wonder this as she followed the three villains who had found her. "Why are you letting her come along? All she will do is slow us down." Khanali asked. "You're obviously unaware of this girl's unique attributes." Nazo replied. "Is this part of the whole breeding thing again?" Khanali asked.

"Not at all. The simple fact is that the Master Emerald's power is too great for even me to absorb, and thusly I cannot sense its power, nor can I sense the power of the shattered pieces. Only members of the ancient echidna tribe and their descendants were so closely connected to it that they could actually feel its power from a distance. That's why Knuckles has always been able to find the shattered pieces and make the emerald whole again." Nazo turned around to look at Tikal, who was observing a large flower, "This girl, is a member of that tribe, and with no recollection of who she is or what's going on, she'll easily be able to find the shattered pieces for us." Nazo explained.

Nazo walked over to Tikal, who very calmly gave her attention to him, not knowing what the villain's true intentions were. "Now my dear, tell me, do you feel anything out of the ordinary?" Nazo asked. "I don't understand." Tikal replied. "Do you feel something like a charge of energy anywhere around here? Or perhaps somewhere in the distance?" Nazo specified. "Well…as a matter of fact I do feel rather strange." Tikal replied. "Tell me, where is the feeling coming from?" Nazo asked. "I think…it's from somewhere in that direction." Tikal replied.

"Really? Please, show us the way." Nazo said. Tikal nodded and smiled, and led the villains over to a large bush; Tikal reached into it and pulled out a small piece of glowing rock. "This is where the strange feeling is coming from." Tikal examined the emerald shard in her hands for a few moments, when suddenly the piece glowed brightly, and a green aura enveloped the young echidna for a few moments, before finally dissipating. "Are you alright?" Khanali asked. "Um…I believe so…I am rather dizzy however." Tikal replied.

"What was it like my dear?" Nazo asked. "I…can't explain the feeling…but please, call me Tikal…(gasp) I remember my name!" Tikal exclaimed. "Oh, well…how wonderful for you!" Nazo replied, feigning enthusiasm. "It must've been this stone that did it…maybe if we find them all, I'll get my memory back!" Tikal exclaimed. "Of course! Would you excuse us for one moment…Tikal." Nazo said. "Go right ahead Nazo." Tikal went back to examining the emerald shard, while Nazo pulled Khanali aside. "What just happened here?" Khanali asked.

"It would seem that when Shadow shattered the emerald, he shattered her memory as well. Which means that with each emerald shard we find, she'll begin to remember more and more of who she is and what's happened to her." Nazo explained. "But if she remembers what happened, she'll remember who WE are, and she won't be willing to help us anymore." Khanali said. "Indeed…I suppose that the moment she remembers our true intentions…she will have to be eliminated…however…I believe I shall wait until we run into that insipid guardian before we annihilate her…I'm sure he would just love to watch the only other echidna in existence die right before his eyes." Nazo chortled.

Nazo turned back to Tikal, who was quietly rejoicing the remembrance of her name. "Now then my dear, do you happen to be able to sense any other of these stones?" Nazo asked. "Um…not yet, but as soon as I do I'll tell you! I can't wait to get my memory back!" Tikal exclaimed. "We can't wait either." Nazo chortled. And so the young echidna naively led Nazo and Khanali through the forest, not knowing exactly what fate awaited her at the end of their quest.

"There is a reason that I always go around in my Egg Mobile…I wasn't built to trudge through foliage and jump over obstacles." Eggman panted. "Quit your griping already." Shadow grumbled. "Well don't worry Eggman, as soon as we find one emerald shard, I'll be able to adjust my scanner to search for the other pieces, which will hopefully save us a lot of time." Tails said. "Wonderful. In the meantime we have to keep hiking until we just happen to find one. I wanted revenge, not a scavenger hunt, I usually leave that to you and then I steal whatever you find." Eggman grumbled.

"Well there's a first time for everything." Tails said. "Hold it." Shadow said suddenly. "What's up Shadow?" Tails asked. "There's someone over there." Shadow whispered. The group quickly ducked down, Eggman covering his eyes with his hands in fear. "Is it Nazo?" Tails asked. "No…I don't feel any chaos energy. Come on, let's check it out." Shadow replied. Shadow and Tails stealthily made their way through the shrubbery while Eggman just crawled his way over. They peeked over a bush and saw a large metal building, in the shape of an egg. "Doctor, is this yours?" Shadow asked.

"It must belong to my other-dimensional counterpart, Eggman Nega." Eggman replied. "Think he might've found a few pieces of the emerald?" Tails asked. "Well as a fellow genius I definitely would consider it as a possibility." Eggman replied. "There's only one way to find out." Shadow started making his way up to the fortress, with Tails and Eggman trailing not far behind. Little did the trio know that they had been spotted.

"Anything Knux?" Sonic asked. "I don't know. There're so many shards everywhere that I can't get a focus on anything, it's giving me a massive headache too." Knuckles replied. "Too bad we don't know anyone in this dimension who could help us out, it'd make things at least a little easier." Amy said. "Hey wait a second; we DO know someone in this dimension! AND she's really good at scrounging too!" Sonic exclaimed. "Who's that Sonic?" Amy asked. "Marine!" Sonic replied.

"You mean that raccoon you told us about?" Amy asked. "Yeah, she's explored just about every inch of this island, if anyone knows where to look, it'll be her." Sonic replied. "Well then let's find her before my head splits in two." Knuckles groaned. "How do we find her then?" Amy asked. "Look for koalas." Sonic replied. "Koalas? Are you serious?" Amy asked, laughing a little. "There's a group of koalas known as the Coconut Crew around here, if we find them, they'll probably know where Marine is." Sonic replied.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" a voice shouted. "What was that?" Knuckles wondered. "Sounds like trouble, come on!" Sonic took off running with Amy and Knuckles following closely. What they saw shocked them. "Is that what I think it is?" Amy exclaimed in shock. "It's Chaos!" Knuckles replied. The group watched as Chaos dismantled Marine's boat, examining each piece as he removed them. "Listen I didn't bring you here to destroy my boat!" Marine shouted angrily. "Back off Chaos!" Knuckles charged forward and slammed the water creature hard. Chaos collapsed into a puddle, but quickly recovered and moved forward to retaliate. "You alright Marine?" Sonic asked, as he got into battle-ready stance. "Sonic mate, you're here? And who's this sheila?" Marine asked. "My name's not Sheila, it's Amy!" Amy replied.

"Don't worry, we'll handle Chaos!" Sonic exclaimed. "Handle him? Now hold on a second mate!" Marine was basically talking to herself as Sonic totally ignored her and leaped into the fray with Knuckles and Chaos. Sonic and Knuckles teamed up to attack Chaos, who was too slow to avoid the attacks from both sides. But when Chaos went flying, the water creature regained its composure and stretched out its arms and nailed both Sonic and Knuckles with powerful attacks. Sonic and Knuckles then charged forward just as Chaos did the same, and that was when Marine had enough. "(Whistle) Enough's enough you guys!" Marine shouted.

The three ceased their battle when Marine got their attention. "This creature hasn't done anything to hurt me, he's just looking for his friend." she explained. "Friend? Wait a minute, you're looking for Tikal?" Knuckles asked. Chaos nodded slowly to respond. "Then we're on the same team! Let's find Tikal together!" Knuckles exclaimed. Chaos nodded again to agree with the echidna's proposal. "Boy Knux, that sounded like it came out of one of those cheesy kids cartoons." Sonic snickered. Knuckles just growled and walked past Sonic and Amy to get to Marine.

"According to Sonic, you're the resident treasure hunter in this dimension, have you seen any green rocks around the island?" Knuckles asked. "Have I? I've got a whole collection of them mate! Follow me." Marine led the group into her home and directed their attention to a small box that was locked up. "These are real important to me, so I keep them locked up." Marine pulled out a key and unlocked the box, and opened it to reveal several emerald shards. "Incredible! When did you find these?" Knuckles asked.

"They were all along the shore mate, what's so important about a bunch of sea glass anyway?" Marine asked. "Sea glass? These are pieces of the Master Emerald! The most powerful object in all of existence!" Knuckles replied. "Eh, beg to differ mate, but the Jeweled Scepter is the most powerful." Marine said. "Oh yeah? Well I'll have you know that…" Knuckles was suddenly cutoff. "Oh man! The Jeweled Scepter! If Nazo gets his hands on that, he might be able to harness the power of the Sol Emeralds!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Nazo? Who's that bloke?" Marine asked. "An evil, power-hungry monster whose only purpose is to gain strength by absorbing energy various power sources, like the Chaos Emeralds." Knuckles replied. "Well don't you worry about the Scepter mate, I put somewhere will nobody will ever find it." Marine said. "Where?" Sonic asked. "In some old ruins, I figured that Eggman Nega would never think to look for it there." Marine said. "Oh great. There's another factor I forgot about." Sonic face-palmed. "Now what's the matter?" Amy asked.

"If Nazo runs into Eggman Nega, our job becomes twice as hard as before, because I can pretty much guarantee that Nazo will try to join forces with him so that he has a guide around this dimension." Sonic said. "Well then we'll just have to move twice as fast!" Amy exclaimed. "Now you're talking Ames!" Sonic replied. "Hey mates, you're gonna take me with you right? I've been dying to go on an adventure ever since you and Blaze disappeared!" Marine exclaimed. "Sure thing Marine, we're gonna need you to help us find the rest of the missing pieces anyway." Sonic chuckled. "Alright then mates! We can take out my newest invention!" Marine exclaimed.

The group was led to a garage, and they got into Marine's vehicle and burst out the garage door, which left Amy scared out of her mind. "You're sure this thing is safe?" she asked nervously. Yeah, of course! Well I mean maybe, this is the dune buggy's first test run!" Marine replied. "Test run? You're using us as guinea pigs?" Amy exclaimed angrily. "Aww relax sheila, we'll be fine! Now let's go!" Marine exclaimed. "For the last time, my name's NOT Sheila, it's Amyyyyyyyyy!" Marine sent the buggy going full-throttle, and the group went on their way to searching for the emerald pieces.

"Whoa, this is AWESOME!" Crash exclaimed. "Please control yourself, even I haven't explored these ruins extensively, there's no telling what we might find." Blaze replied. "Are you sure it's safe here Blaze?" Cream asked nervously. "As long as you stay close and don't touch anything, we should be fine." Blaze replied. "That means you Crash." Dash said. "Who me? Dasher, I am the king of not touching, I mean you tell me not to touch something and I'll make sure to steer clear. After all, I'm not totally irresponsible." Crash leaned against the wall when he suddenly felt the brick he was leaning against push into the wall. "Crash!" the group exclaimed.

Suddenly the ruins began to crumble on top of them, and Dash quickly reacted by putting up an ice shield to protect them. "Look for an exit!" he exclaimed. "Look there!" Ashley pointed towards an opening in the wall, and the group quickly rushed through it to avoid being crushed by piles of rubble. Once Dash leaped through the door, the rocks blocked off the opening, leaving them totally in the dark. "Anybody got a flashlight?" Crash asked. Suddenly a dim light began to glow in the hallway. "Oh thanks." Crash said.

"Hey Ash, since when can your amulet act as a flashlight?" Dash asked. "It can't…" Ashley replied. "Well…we won't be getting out the way we came in." Blaze said, as she gave up on trying to shatter the boulders blocking their way. "Evidently whoever made these ruins KNEW we'd try going this way." Houdini added. "So what'll we do Blaze?" Cream asked. "There's only one thing we can do. We'll have to go farther inside the ruins until we find another way out." Blaze replied. "But what about my amulet? It's never done anything like this without me making it; it must be reacting to something down there." Ashley said.

"Do you feel sick?" Blaze asked. "No." Ashley replied. "Dizzy? Weak? Are any parts of you spontaneously growing or shrinking?" Blaze asked. "I'm pretty sure I'm ok." Ashley replied. "Then going down there won't affect you, now let's go." Blaze walked on ahead with Cream following closely behind, and Gemerl behind her so she was protected from both ends. As they continued on, the group couldn't help but notice that Ashley's amulet was steadily glowing brighter, and now drawings that covered the walls were now visible. "Hey, check this out." Dash said.

The group looked at the walls and saw what seemed to be old drawings, and they seemed to be telling a story of something that happened a long time ago. "Hey, that's my amulet!" Ashley exclaimed as she pointed at a picture of a hedgehog fighting a cat. "And…that looks like it could be one of my ancestors." Blaze said. "But if that's YOUR ancestor, and that hedgehog is using MY amulet…this must be MY ancestor…" Ashley said in shock. "But how does that work? You live in our dimension." Dash said.

"Look here, it seems like my ancestors triumphed, and apparently chased Ashley's ancestors away." Blaze said. "But why were they fighting to begin with?" Ashley wondered. "Perhaps we'll find out if we keep going." Blaze suggested. The group nodded and continued down the corridor, the whole time Ashley's amulet was steadily glowing brighter, and a certain member was growing more and more wary. "If they DO find out, they might wind up at each other's throats!" Houdini whispered to himself. Finally they walked into a room, where Blaze gasped at what she saw. "It's the Jeweled Scepter! Marine must've put it here." Blaze said. "That must be what's making my amulet react." Ashley replied.

"It's possible that your amulet and the Jeweled Scepter are connected somehow, which means that MY ancestors must've had their own artifact." Blaze said. "Look at this Blaze!" Cream pointed out. There on the wall, was a drawing of Blaze's ancestor and Ashley's ancestor, standing side by side with their artifacts and the Jeweled Scepter, and also the Sol Emeralds. "My ancestors have been guarding the Jeweled Scepter and the Sol Emeralds for centuries, but I was never aware that there was another royal family." Blaze said.

"Ashley, are you SURE that your father was a king? Or is it possible he meant your ancestors were kings? And by foreign country, he meant alternate dimension?" Dash suggested. "I-I don't know…I was so young…and the note he left me before he disappeared wasn't very in-depth…all it really explained was that the amulet was a family heirloom, and had certain powers that would help me in later life." Ashley replied. They looked at the large mural again, and studied it for a few moments. "This is fascinating, I was never aware of any of this…until now." Blaze said.

Cream looked closer and noticed some strange writing. "Blaze? What does this say?" Cream asked, pointing out the writing. Blaze went up to it and examined the writing. "It's written in some sort of ancient language." Blaze said. "Can you translate it?" Ashley asked. "It seems…familiar…but I can't recall what it means." Blaze said. "Gemerl, can you read it?" Cream asked. The gizoid moved up to the writing and used its robotic eyes to scan the writing. After a few moments of its super-computer brain working, Gemerl looked up and activated a hologram out of its eyes. Blaze read it aloud, "To unleash the ultimate power of the Sol Emeralds, find the two ancient treasures and recite their messages in the presence of the Jeweled Scepter. But be aware, only the chosen guardian of the Sol Emeralds, will be granted the right to increase their power."

"This is so weird. And aren't we wasting time with all this? If Ashley's amulet or medallion or whatever is having a seizure, that means we should LEAVE, hey, let's try doing that through that gaping hole in the wall." Crash said. "Actually…we may NOT be wasting our time…if we can find the second treasure, I can probably unleash the Sol Emerald's true power, and I'll be able to defeat Nazo before he does any more damage." Blaze said. "Um Blaze, with all due respect, since the amulet was entrusted to my family, it's very possible that I'M the chosen guardian, so maybe I should try first." Ashley replied.

"I appreciate the offer, but the fact is that I'm the guardian of the Sol Emeralds, as I've been the one guarding them ever since I was of age to do so." Blaze replied. Cream, Dash, and Crash looked at each other in confusion, what was going on here? "Well, you may be the one who's been guarding them for a while, but there's no guarantee that YOUR family was the one chosen to do so." Ashley said. "Uh, Ashley." Dash spoke up, but was ignored. "I AM the chosen guardian! How dare you assume that my position is a false one?" Blaze hissed. "Blaze, please calm down!" Cream begged.

"Do you remember the other drawings back there? Your family chased my family right out of here! Maybe you were trying to overthrow us!" Ashley shouted. "And maybe YOU were trying to do the same!" Blaze replied just as angrily. "That does it; I'll show you what happens to people who kill my family!" Ashley grabbed ahold of her amulet and began channeling its power, and for some reason it seemed stronger than usual. "Treachery towards the royal family must be punished!" Blaze too got into battle-ready stance, her flames ignited in fury.

"We're about to have a battle royale on our hands!" Crash exclaimed. "This is exactly what I was afraid of; they're taking after their family's examples!" Houdini added. "Not if I can help it, come on Cream, Houdini, I'll need your help!" Dash said determinedly. "Ok Mr. Dash!" Cream replied. The three peacemakers got in front of their respective friends and blocked them from their opponents. "I'm gonna say this once Dasher, get out of my way, I wouldn't want my best friend to get hurt during this." Ashley hissed. "Consider this me doing you a favor Ash, BLAZE did not do anything to you, what her family may or may NOT have done was centuries ago, don't make a mistake you'll be guaranteed to regret." Dash replied firmly.

"Cream, Houdini, what are you doing? Stay out of this!" Blaze exclaimed. "No! I don't want to see you two fight! You're both my friends!" Cream replied. Now Houdini directed his attention to both of the battlers. "Look at that mural!" he yelled. The two opponents did. "Your ancestor's aren't fighting in that picture; in fact they're working together as a team, as you two should be! Whether Blaze or Ashley is the true guardian of the Sol Emeralds doesn't matter either, Ashley, would you give up your life in your dimension to take responsibility to guard the emeralds?" Houdini asked.

Ashley calmed down a little, which made Dash sigh in relief. "No, I guess not." she admitted. "And you Blaze, your family chased Ashley's family out of power that you probably shared with them, whether or not it was the right thing to do then, I can guarantee you it isn't the right thing to do now, the war is over, you two are friends, don't reignite a war that ended so many years ago. That's probably what the war was about come to think of it, they both wanted to be the ones who had the right to have the power that the Sol Emeralds provided…a hunger for power is a common cause for a war." Houdini finished his speech, and looking at his two friends, it seemed to have worked.

"I'm sorry Blaze; I don't know what came over me." Ashley said shamefully. "As am I. You'll find that I was right as well." Blaze replied. "Right about what?" Ashley asked. "We continued on, and found out what caused our ancestors to go to war." Blaze replied. "Well, there's no rule that says we have to continue that war, let's join forces and find out how we can beat Nazo together." Ashley said. Blaze nodded and examined Ashley's amulet along with her. "More of that funky writing. I always wondered what this meant." Ashley said. "Gemerl, translate that too please." Cream said. Ashley handed the amulet to Gemerl, who scanned the glowing amulet and then created another hologram that showed the translation of the message on it.

"With the fire that burns deep in my heart, I summon the full power of the mighty emeralds." Blaze read. "Sounds like a second half if you ask me." Houdini said. "Now we gotta find the first half of that message, which means the first treasure." Dash said. "Too bad Marine isn't with us; this is something she's good at." Blaze said. "Who's Marine?" Cream asked. "Another friend of mine." Blaze replied. "Ok, we have a second plan to go with the first plan of finding the emeralds, let's get going!" Crash exclaimed. The group leaped out of the ruins back to the beach, with Blaze toting the Jeweled Scepter along with her; little did she know that it was a mistake to do so.

"Large energy spike detected due south." Metal Sonic beeped. "What kind of energy?" Khanali asked. "Unknown. Further analysis shows that energy spike is moving west." Metal Sonic replied. "An unknown energy source in this dimension? Interesting, perhaps it could be useful to us. And if it's moving, that means Sonic and his friends must have it…well…we shall soon remedy that. Khanali, go!" Nazo ordered. "As you command." Khanali rushed off towards the direction indicated by Metal Sonic, which gained Tikal's interest. "Where is he going Nazo?" she asked. "He's merely going to check something out; he'll be back soon enough." Nazo replied.

"By the way, who is Sonic?" Tikal asked. "Not to worry Tikal, you shall find out soon enough, let's continue searching now shall we?" Nazo said. Tikal smiled and began sensing the shards again. "You shall most definitely…find out soon enough."  
_

**A/N: So now we know. Tikal's memory was shattered when Shadow shattered the emerald. Why? I dunno, I'm not a genius. xD Maybe because Tikal wasn't prepared for the sudden shattering. Sonic Adventure it was shattered because of Chaos I think, so maybe Tikal was ready to transport out. But all is not lost, with each recovered emerald shard, a piece of her memory is recovered...however with Nazo's plans for her, is that a good or bad thing? And...the origin of Ashley's amulet is finally found, but where is the second treasure that unlocks the key to the Sol Emeralds' full power? All that and more in the next chapter.**


	19. A New Player

"Ok, just out of curiosity, how do you plan on finding the missing emerald pieces AND this weird treasure thing whatever it is?" Crash asked, as the group ran through the old ruins.

"Simple, the same way Ashley's amulet is reacting to the power of the Jeweled Scepter; the other artifact should as well. As for the emerald shards, we'll just have to be lucky, only Knuckles has the ability to sense their power." Blaze replied.

"Not quite, my fellow pyrokinetic." a voice suddenly said.

The group stopped in their tracks, and started surveying the area for the source of the voice.

"There is one other, and she's on our side." A figure walked from behind an old pillar, "Greetings everyone."

"It's him again!" Crash growled, his fists clenched at his sides.

"Ahh yes, we just keep running into each other don't we?" Khanali chuckled, "At any rate, I believe you have a brand new energy, and I've been ordered to apprehend it."

"Over my dead body." Blaze hissed, her flames already beginning to heat up inside her.

"Must this all end in violence? I would really rather just skip the pointless battling and simply take what I've been instructed to take." Khanali sighed.

"The only thing you're gonna take is an aspirin, after we beat the snot out of you!" Crash growled.

"I can see that a fight is inevitable now, well, if this is how it must be." Khanali suddenly erupted in a ball of flame, as he showed his powers off to the group.

"Very well wolf, let's see whose flames burn hotter!" Blaze activated the power of the Sol Emeralds and burst into flame as well, her powers at full as she faced off against the wolf. Blaze then took off towards Khanali, and the battle began again as the two fire-enveloped beings started their combat.

"Geez, why do I get left out of everything?" Crash yelled in frustration. Blaze suddenly crashed down in front of them before blasting back up to battle Khanali again.

"You wanna get involved in THAT? I think your head's screwed on too tight." Dash replied.

"Boy that wolf sure is powerful, even with the emeralds Blaze is having a tough time." Houdini noted with concern.

"Well WE sure can't help her!" Ashley exclaimed.

"Wait a minute, WE can't, but YOU can Ash!" Dash exclaimed, snapping his fingers as he realized something.

"Me? How do you expect me to help her?" Ashley asked incredulously.

"Whaddya mean how? You've got your amulet! And with the power boost that the Jeweled Scepter is giving it, your power should be more than enough to help Blaze out!" Dash replied.

"Dasher I…I don't know." Ashley said nervously, as she held her artifact in her hand. Blaze was once again knocked back down to earth, and the group saw that her powers were beginning to give out.

"You fools; you know not the true power I possess. While I admit that her usage of the emeralds is quite intriguing, she's still no match for me on her own." Khanali chortled, "Now hand over the energy source before I finish the job."

Ashley squeezed the amulet in her hand and growled lowly. "Maybe on her own she can't beat you, but with a little help she will!" Ashley channeled the energy in her amulet, and thanks to the Jeweled Scepter's presence, her powers were activated at a much higher level. "Come on Blaze, let's show that creep a little girl power!"

Blaze nodded and picked Ashley up, and she carried the hedgehog girl up to face Khanali. Then with a hard throw, Blaze sent Ashley flying forward towards the wolf, who was confused as to what was going on. Ashley held out her fist, which was now glowing brightly thanks to the power of her amulet, and when she made contact with Khanali, the wolf was sent flying far away. Then before she fell to the ground, Blaze came up and caught her and gently placed her back down on the ground before landing and powering down herself.

"Wow…what a rush." Ashley panted, holding her head as she let the energy flow pass.

"That was awesome!" Crash exclaimed excitedly.

"It was impressive, if our quest is successful we should have sufficient power to destroy Nazo once and for all…however we must not let our guard down, if Nazo sent Khanali after us, he knows that we have the scepter, and he's after the power." Blaze said.

"Right." They replied. The group went back to searching.

Meanwhile, Khanali continued to go flying until he crashed through the roof of a building and finally hit the floor, his head throbbing painfully. The wolf slowly got up and shook his head aggressively to get his bearings, "Astounding…whatever source of power they have in their possession, its might is almost unimaginable." Khanali looked around the strange room he had found himself in, "Well now, what sort of place have I fallen into?"

Suddenly an alarm went off, and he was immediately surrounded by a swarm of guard robots, "Hmm…this is intriguing…let's see what happens." Khanali put his arms up and allowed the robots to escort him to a dark room full of amazing technology.

"So you're the intruder." A voice said from his chair, its backed turned to the wolf.

"Doctor? Dr. Eggman is that you?" Khanali asked incredulously, his voice laced with a certain amount of amusement.

"Oh please, do not insult me by comparing me to that bumbling dolt," the voice turned his chair around, revealing his true identity, "I am Dr. Eggman Nega, but you may refer to me as your master, and possibly your executioner." Eggman Nega scowled.

"Remarkable! There are two of the same man, one for each dimension!" Khanali exclaimed.

"Silence!" Eggman Nega shouted, and then one of the robots jabbed Khanali with an electric blade, causing the wolf to fall to his knees and pant, "That's twice that you've compared my obviously superior intellect to that of that fool in the other dimension, once more and I'll have to show you what I'm really capable of."

"But of course, I wouldn't dream of it." Khanali replied, panting from the shock of the electricity.

"Now, state your purpose." Eggman Nega said, turning his back to the wolf.

"Of course." Khanali got back up, "I am Khanali, a humble servant to an ultra-powerful being named Nazo. I have come…to request your assistance." Khanali said, thinking fast.

"Go on." Eggman Nega replied.

"My master is a creature composed purely of negative chaos energy, and we're searching for shards of the Master Emerald that came from Dr. Egg…I mean that FOOL'S world. What I would like to do…is make a deal with you." Khanali said, his mind suddenly racing with a brilliant idea.

"I see." Eggman Nega turned around, "You've gained my interest, please continue." Suddenly, an alarm went off, and Eggman Nega rushed toward his screen. "What are THEY doing here? I suppose I'll have to have my sentries take care of them." Eggman Nega snapped his fingers, and the robots that were previously guarding Khanali rushed off to attack the new intruders. "Now then Khanali," Eggman Nega walked over to a box, "I assume that this is a part of the emerald you're referring to?" Eggman Nega opened a box and inside was a shard of the Master Emerald.

"Indeed Doctor. I can see that you have an amazing amount of power at your disposal, why don't we discuss our deal?" Khanali suggested.

"Yes, let's." Eggman Nega replied with a sneer.

Within the depths of the egg-shaped fortress, an alarm had gone off that brought disdain to the three intruders. "Oh no, we've been detected!" Tails exclaimed.

Then a mob of angry robots came rushing from all directions, "Then there's no more reason to stay quiet!" Shadow started smashing robots while Tails and Eggman took cover behind a statue, unfortunately these robots were much stronger than the ones in their world, as Shadow began to lose ground and began taking hits from the robots.

"These robots aren't messing around; even Shadow can't handle them all." Tails commented.

"Eggman Nega is quite the genius; of course compared to yours truly he's no match." Eggman replied. Tails rolled his eyes and went back to watching the battle. Shadow battled hard, but the robots were more powerful than Eggman's usual badniks, and they were programmed to be far more aggressive, so even the Metal Sonics weren't up to their level.

Once Shadow got knocked back and began to feel the fatigue of battle, he decided it was time to take it to the next level. "Tails, give me the Chaos Emeralds! I'm gonna show these bots not to mess with the ultimate lifeform!" he growled. Tails obliged and tossed the emeralds towards Shadow, who immediately absorbed their power and transformed into his super form, "Who's tough now?" he roared.

Shadow rammed forward in a burst of chaos energy, and very quickly the tables were turned as the robots simply couldn't keep up with Shadow's amazing power, and this of course did not go unnoticed by the watchers in the other room.

"Well well, it would appear that Shadow has another level of power I've yet to face." Khanali said with interest. Eggman Nega punched his control panel in frustration, which caused the wolf to chuckle, "You seem a trifle irked."

"My stronghold has been compromised by those blasted other-worlders…Khanali, I see now I have no choice but to accept your proposition." Eggman Nega replied.

"Excellent." Khanali chortled.

Eggman Nega turned to the control panel and pressed a large red button, which apparently activated the self-destruct of his base, and then an escape pod emerged from a hole in the floor, and the two villains entered and blasted off.

Once the battle was over, the trio looked up and saw something in the sky. "That looks like an escape pod." Tails mentioned.

"But why would Eggman Nega need an escape pod?" Shadow wondered.

An explosion in the base answered their question. "What's up with villains and their self-destruct mechanisms?" Tails exclaimed.

"It's quite an effective weapon!" Another explosion knocked Eggman and Tails onto the ground, "As you can see."

"Shadow, get us out of here!" Tails exclaimed.

The explosions got worse and debris started falling from everywhere, "Alright…Chaos Control!" Shadow warped everyone out just before the base exploded completely, and they reappeared where they had started when they spotted the base originally, and then Shadow powered down. "Looks like we won't be getting any info from him."

"Something's not right." Eggman said.

"What makes you say that?" Tails asked.

"Eggman Nega would not have destroyed his base unless he was absolutely sure he had no chance of victory, and he still had many resources at his disposal." Eggman replied.

"What are you getting at Doctor?" Shadow asked.

"I mean he was being influenced by something…or someone." Eggman replied.

"Nazo?" Tails asked.

"Or possibly Khanali." Eggman replied.

"If that's the case, then we're in deep trouble, we must find the remaining shards of the Master Emerald before they get their hands on anymore. With Eggman Nega on their side, our job just got twice more difficult." Shadow took off running, leaving Tails and Eggman to trail behind.

"Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey! Can you slow this thing dow-ow-ow-own?" Amy exclaimed as the buggy bounced along the sand dunes.

"Sorry Ames, there's no time to stop! Knux, anything?" Sonic asked.

"I feel something about a mile to the east, in the jungle!" Knuckles replied.

"You got it mate!" Marine made a sharp right that would've knocked Amy out of the buggy if Sonic hadn't grabbed her hand and kept from falling out.

"Marine we're gonna crash!" Sonic yelled.

"Don't count on it mate!" Marine pressed a button on her dashboard, and two buzzsaws emerged from the front of the buggy and started chopping down trees as they moved forward, "Watch your head mates!"

"Well Tikal, have you managed to feel anymore stones?" Nazo asked.

"Yes I…I believe there's one right over here!" Tikal reached behind a stone and found another shard of emerald, and the green glow enveloped her once more, "I found…an emerald shard! These are pieces of an emerald!"

"Yes my dear, it seems you were right about them restoring your memory." Nazo replied.

"I feel another shard!" Tikal exclaimed.

"Where?" Nazo asked.

"It's…coming right at us!" Tikal exclaimed.

"What?" Nazo asked as Tikal took cover. Suddenly a buggy came roaring out of the trees, and smashed Nazo and Metal Sonic as it crashed.

"Sorry mates, looks like there are still some bugs to be worked out." Marine said.

"Yeah no kidding." Amy grumbled.

Tikal came out of hiding, and noticed a shard on the ground. She picked it up and the green glow enveloped her. Knuckles sensed the power and looked to the left. "It's Tikal!" he gasped.

The green glow dissipated, and Tikal gasped in horror, "Oh my."

Suddenly the buggy exploded, as Nazo growled with rage, "You honestly thought smashing a car into me would stop me?"

"Oh man, didn't see that coming." Sonic said as he got into battle-ready stance.

"You…you're evil!" Tikal exclaimed in fear.

"So the emerald has granted you your memory of me, that's quite a shame, because now you must be destroyed!" Nazo fired a blast of energy at the young girl, who cringed and braced for impact.

"No!" Knuckles leaped up and took the hit himself, which knocked the echidna unconscious from the amazing power.

"He…he took the hit for me…" Tikal said in shock.

"Of course he did! We all would've! We're your friends!" Sonic exclaimed.

"You…you are?" Tikal asked hesitantly.

"You…don't remember us?" Sonic replied.

Tikal shook her head nervously, "Who are you?"

"Tikal, it's us! Amy, Sonic, and the guy who took that hit for you, Knuckles." Amy said.

"You all are such fools, what difference does it make whether she knows you or not, she's about to die!" Nazo fired another blast, and this time it headed right for her.

"Tikal, look out!" Sonic yelled.

Tikal shrieked in fear and the flash from the blast caused the group to look away from the light. When the light dissipated…Tikal was gone.

"No!" Knuckles roared despairingly.

"What a shame, all alone in the world once again." Nazo chortled.

Knuckles grabbed a mound of dirt in his fist and chucked it at Nazo in rage, "You bastard!"

Nazo easily dodged it and just chuckled sinisterly, "Luckily for you, I don't plan on killing you…yet. Until then, I'll be looking for the Master Emerald. Farewell." Nazo warped away, leaving the others behind.

Knuckles pounded the ground with his fist in anger, causing mini-earthquakes in the process, "She's dead, she's dead! The only other echidna in existence and he kills her…" But just then, Knuckles sensed a strange energy, he looked up and saw a red ball of light floating around him in circles, "Tikal?" he said in disbelief.

A gentle white light flashed, and Tikal reappeared in front of the red echidna, confused as to what had just happened, "How…how did I do that?" she asked.

"You…you're alive!" Knuckles gasped.

"Yes but…how? And why did you risk yourself to save me?" Tikal asked. Knuckles put his hand behind his head and chuckled nervously in response.

"I wonder why you don't remember us." Sonic said. Suddenly, three figures leaped out of the trees, scaring the group and getting Knuckles to instinctively defend Tikal. "Tails, Shadow!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Oh sure, no respect for the evil genius." Eggman grumbled.

"Any luck?" Amy asked.

"None." Shadow replied, "Although we suspect that Khanali has convinced Eggman Nega to join him and Nazo in their search for the Master Emerald."

"Oh that's just great!" Amy growled.

"Hey, we've got nothing to worry about! Now we've got two echidnas who can sense the Master Emerald, it's like having two living sensors! There's no way Nazo beats us now." Sonic said.

"Unfortunately my blue friend, we're not out of the woods yet. Eggman Nega most likely has a plan to sense the emerald pieces as well, and with him on Nazo's side, he could very easily make a device with his vast resources that would locate all emerald pieces within a radius I could only begin to imagine." Eggman replied.

"Then we need to stop wasting time and find them before Eggman Nega gets to do anything like that! I'll go with Tikal!" Knuckles declared.

"Wait a minute Knuckles! If you and Tikal can both sense the emeralds, then we'd be better off splitting you and her up so that we have twice the chance to find them!" Tails exclaimed.

"I concur with the young scientist here, the logical thing to do is to split the echidnas up and have them each sense emeralds on opposite sides of the island." Eggman replied.

"No! I won't leave Tikal alone!" Knuckles growled.

"Knuckles, come on man, she won't be alone, I'll take Amy, Marine, and Chaos and keep her safe." Sonic said. Sonic then saw Marine working on the dune buggy, and she waved at them as she worked on the repairs, "Well…as safe as she can be at least." he sweat-dropped.

Knuckles thought about it for a moment…as much as he hated to admit it, Tails was making perfect sense, but he didn't trust anyone else except himself to take care of Tikal…he finally had another echidna in existence, and right now she was so vulnerable with her memory gone. Then Tikal tapped him on the shoulder, and got his attention, "Tikal?"

"Um, you said your name was Knuckles, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, do you remember me now?" Knuckles asked hopefully.

"No…I don't…" Tikal said, which earned a sad look from the red echidna, "But…somehow, I feel in my heart that I can trust you and your friends…even the strange creature there," she said referring to Chaos, "I have full confidence that your friend…Sonic, was it? I'm sure that he can protect me. I can feel that your intentions are pure, so I will help you in your quest."

"That settles it then; I'll take Knuckles, Tails, and Eggman and go searching that way." Shadow said pointing west.

"Then I'll take Amy, Marine, and Chaos and go east." Sonic replied.

"What about Blaze and the others? Has anyone contacted her lately?" Tails asked.

"Nope, but how do we contact them?" Amy asked.

"Of course! I forgot about our communicators!" Tails exclaimed, "Tails calling Blaze, come in Blaze." All Tails got was static, "Tails calling Blaze, come in!" still no response, "Something's jamming the communicator signal!"

"Here, let me see that contraption." Eggman said. Tails handed Eggman the communicator, and the scientist began fiddling with it.

"We don't have time! Come on, he can work on the way, let's go!" Knuckles yelled.

"Guess we don't have a choice…move out team!" Sonic replied.

Marine got the buggy started, and reluctantly, the rest of the team filed in. "Hang on tight mates!" Marine drove off, and the other team ran off as well.

"Well Khanali, while you've failed to retrieve the energy source, you've brought us a valuable ally." Nazo said, as he watched Khanali and Eggman Nega work on the damaged Metal Sonic.

"Yes master, Eggman Nega's knowledge of this world will be quite an asset for us, not to mention his scientific knowledge of the emeralds." Khanali replied.

"Yes indeed, using spare parts from Metal Sonic, I can construct an emerald radar, which will allow us to find emerald shards from anywhere within a ten mile radius." Eggman Nega said proudly.

"Excellent, you too will get a high place when I've taken this both worlds as my own." Nazo chortled.

"Both worlds? Master Nazo, what are you saying?" Khanali asked.

"I cannot allow Blaze's world to remain intact, they could conceivably rise up against me in the future, and my full focus must be on gaining more power, and of course my vengeance on Sonic and Shadow." Nazo replied.

"Very well master, as you command." Khanali smirked at Eggman Nega, who smirked back.

"Get ready Sonic, your time grows short."


End file.
